Subscriber RF telephone system for providing multiple speech and/or data signals simultaneously over either a single or a plurality of RF channels

ABSTRACT

A system and method for wireless communication between a plurality of subscriber units and a base station, the base station communicating information signals from an originating source to a destination subscriber unit over a channel at an assigned one of a plurality of frequencies using repetitive time frames, each said time frame comprising a sequence of time slots. The channel is defined as having the same one or more time slots from the sequence of time slots in one or more of the time frames. The base station includes a central processing unit capable of assigning a duration of time for the information signals being sent to the destination subscriber unit. The duration equals the duration of one or more time slots in the same frame. The central processing unit maintains a memory of which time slots of each time frame have been assigned and provides the time slot assignment, and therefore channel assignment, by consulting said memory. The system includes a multiplexer for multiplexing the information signals onto the assigned channel; and a transmitter for transmitting the information signals to the destination subscriber unit using the assigned channel.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/132,670,filed on Apr. 25, 2002; which is a continuation of application Ser. No.09/923,171, filed on Aug. 6, 2001, which issued on May 21, 2002 as U.S.Pat. No. 6,393,002; which is a continuation of application Ser. No.09/433,430, filed on Nov. 4, 1999, which issued on Aug. 28, 2001 as U.S.Pat. No. 6,282,180; which is a continuation of application Ser. No.08/926,405, filed on Sep. 9, 1997, which issued on Jan. 11, 2000 as U.S.Pat. No. 6,014,374; which is a continuation of application Ser. No.08/724,930, filed on Oct. 2, 1996, which issued on Mar. 31, 1998 as U.S.Pat. No. 5,734,678; which is a continuation of application Ser. No.07/831,198, filed on Jan. 31, 1992, which is now abandoned; which is adivisional of application Ser. No. 07/634,770, filed on Dec. 27, 1990,which issued on Jun. 2, 1992 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,375; which is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 07/349,301, filed on May 8, 1989,which issued on Jun. 4, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,024; which is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 07/324,651, filed on Mar. 16, 1989,which issued on Mar. 27, 1990 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,705; which is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 07/031,045, filed on Mar. 27, 1987,which issued on Mar. 28, 1989 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,089; which is acontinuation of Application No. 06/713,925, filed on Mar. 20, 1985,which issued on Jun. 23, 1987 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,863 whichapplication(s) are incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY

A system for the wireless transmission of multiple information signalsutilizing digital time division circuits between a base station and aplurality of subscriber stations. The subscriber stations may be fixedor movable. The movable subscriber stations may be relatively fast andrelatively slow moving. The number of time division circuits isdetermined by the transmission quality of the signals. The base stationis interconnected with an external information network, which may beanalog and/or digital. The information signals are selected from thegroup consisting of voice, data, facsimile, video, computer andinstrumentation signals. The modulation level of the signals and thepower applied to the system are adjusted in accordance with signal errordetection in the system. The system is provided with spatial diversityby using a plurality of antennas selectively spaced from each other toprovide relatively high signal reception despite signal fading. The basestation operates over a plurality of RF channel pairs. Each channel pairoperation is implemented by the combination of a transmit channelcircuit for processing a given plural number of information signalsreceived simultaneously over telephone company trunk lines forsimultaneous transmission to different subscriber stations over a givenradio frequency (RF) channel, and a receive channel circuit forprocessing a plurality of signals received simultaneously over a givenRF channel from different subscriber stations to provide informationsignals for transmission over the trunk lines.

Separate conversion devices are respectively connected to each of thetrunk lines for converting the information signals received over thetrunk lines into digital signal samples.

The transmit channel circuit includes a given plural number of separatesignal compression devices for simultaneously compressing the digitalsignal samples respectively derived from separate ones of the conversiondevices to provide the given number of separate compressed signals; achannel control unit connected to the compression devices forsequentially combining the compressed signals into a single transmitchannel bit stream, with each of the respective compressed signalsoccupying a repetitive sequential slot position in the transmit channelbit stream associated with a predetermined one of the separatecompression devices and a unit for providing a transmit channel signalfor transmission over the predetermined RF channel in response to thetransmit channel bit stream.

An exchange couples the respective separate conversion devices toindicated ones of the separate compression devices.

A remote-connection processor unit is coupled to the trunk lines andresponds to an incoming call request signal received over one of thetrunk lines by providing a slot assignment signal indicating which oneof the separate compression devices the exchange is to connect to theone of the separate conversion devices connected to the one trunk line,and thereby assigns to the one trunk line the slot in the transmitchannel bit stream associated with the one of the separate compressiondevices that is so connected by the exchange. The remote-connectionprocessor maintains a memory of which slots are so assigned and consultssuch memory upon receipt of an incoming call request and then providesthe slot assignment signal that effects the connection to a compressiondevice associated with one of the slots that is not assigned to anothertrunk line.

A call processor is connected to the remote-connection processor andresponds to the slot assignment signal by causing the exchange tocomplete the connection indicated by the slot assignment signal.

The receive channel circuit includes a receiver unit for receiving areceive channel signal and for processing the receive channel signal toprovide a receive channel bit stream containing separate compressedsignals in different respective repetitive sequential slot positions; agiven plural number of separate signal synthesis devices each associatedwith a different slot position in the receive channel bit stream forreconstructing digital signal samples from separate compressed signalscontained in the associated respective slot positions of the receivechannel bit stream; and a control unit for segregating the separatecompressed signals from the receive channel bit stream and distributingthe segregated signals to the separate synthesis devices associated withthe respective time slots from which the signals are segregated.

Separate reconversion devices are respectively connected to each of thetrunk lines for reconverting digital signal samples to informationsignals for transmission over the respective trunk lines. Each of theseparate reconversion means is associated with one of the separateconversion means and is connected to a common one of the trunk lineswith the associated separate conversion means.

The exchange couples the respective separate reconversion devices toindicated ones of the separate synthesis devices.

The remote-connection processor responds to the incoming call requestsignal received over the one trunk line by providing a slot assignmentsignal for indicating which one of the separate synthesis devices theexchange is to connect to the one of the separate reconversion devicesconnected to the one trunk line and thereby assigns to the one trunkline the slot in the receive channel bit stream associated with the oneof the separate synthesis devices that is so connected by the exchangemeans. The remote-connection processor maintains a memory of which slotsin the receive channel bit stream are so assigned and consults suchmemory upon receipt of the incoming call request and then provides tothe call processor the slot assignment signal for effecting theconnection to a synthesis device associated with one of the slots thatis not assigned to another trunk line.

The system of the present invention makes use of advanced digital andlarge-scale-integration electronics techniques to bring low-cost,reliable, high-quality communications to various market segments. Onepreferred embodiment uses a fixed base station installation centrallylocated to communicate with a large number of subscriber stations placedin the nearby geographic area. The central base station may be connectedto a central office of a public switched telephone company (Telco)network through a private branch exchange switch (PBX) connected toincoming telephone trunks. The subscriber stations in the system may beeither fixed-base portable or mobile in nature, and may be operationalin either relatively slow or fast motion. The subscriber stationscommunicate with the base station via UHF radio channels and with theuser via standard two-wire DTMF touchtone telephone equipment or viaRS-232C or via non-standard phone stations (e.g., 4-wire). The systemmay be used to replace existing hard-wired local subscriber loops or toprovide quality telephone service to areas where wired connections arenot feasible or economical.

One feature of the system of the present invention is the ability to usetime division multiple access (TDMA) and digital speech encoding toallow simultaneous multiple use of frequencies within a given network.Any feasible number of high-quality voice circuits may be operating on agiven frequency channel (with 25 KHz channel spacing) at a time. Foursuch circuits are used for illustrative purposes. This provides both aspectral and an economic advantage over existing analog radio-phonesystems which can provide for only one conversation at a time on a givenfrequency channel.

Features which bring about the lower-cost fixed, mobile and portableservice are the use of low-rate digital voice coding (less than 16 Kbps)combined with spectral-efficient digital modulation techniques. Forexample, the combined use of a 14.6 Kbps voice coding technique and16-level DPSK modulation allows four simultaneous full-duplexconversations to be supported on a single pair of 20 KHz Bw channelsthat are spaced 25 KHz apart in the entire spectrum, and particularly inthe 400-500 MHz and 800-950 MHz segments. This combination provides goodquality speech over a distance of at least 20 Km.

To be competitive with wireline service, a much larger population ofsubscribers must be accommodated than can be supported simultaneously ona given pair of 25 KHz channels. For example, a 12-channel-pair systemwhich supported 47 simultaneous calls might have a total off-hook pluson-hook population of 500 subscribers (with the maximum constrained bythe desired peak-hour blocking probability). Thus, a subscribercall-request control scheme which provides reasonable call-connectiondelays is also an important feature of the present invention.

Additional features of the present invention are described in relationto the description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is block diagram generally showing the RF subscriber telephonesystem of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a representative preferred embodiment ofthe base station in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a subscriberstation in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates the sequence of messages generated by the subscriberstations and the base station to establish a connection between twosubscriber stations.

FIG. 5 illustrates various data processing modules implemented in theremote-control processor unit (RPU) in the base station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 illustrates the processing of incoming and outgoing BCC messagesby the RPU in the base station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 illustrates the processing of incoming and outgoing PBX messagesby the RPU in the base station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 illustrates the processing of logger messages by the RPU in thebase station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 illustrates a memory map of the RPU in the base station of FIG.2.

FIG. 10 illustrates the processing of messages relating to the RCC stateby the message processing module (MPM) shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 11 illustrates the processing of messages relating to the channelstate by the message processing MPM shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the subscriber terminal interface unit(STU) in the subscriber station of FIG. 3.

FIG. 13 shows the signal interface between the PBX and the VCU in thebase station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 14 (on sheet 1) shows the signal interface between the STU and theVCU in the subscriber station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 15 shows the timing relationships for the PBX-VCU interface signalsshown in FIG. 13 and for the STU-VCU interface signals shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 (on sheet 11) shows the signal interface between the VCU and theCCU in both the base station of FIG. 2 and the subscriber station ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 17 shows the timing relationship for the transmit channel signalsof the VCU-CCU signal interface shown in FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 shows the timing relationship for the receive channel signals ofthe VCU-CCU signal interface shown in FIG. 16.

FIGS. 19A and 19B respectively show the timing relationships for thetransmit and receive speech blocks that are transferred between the VCUand CCU for 16-level PSK modulation.

FIG. 20A shows the input and output data timing and content for thereceive channel between the VCU and the PBX (or STU) for 16-level PSKmodulation.

FIG. 20B shows the input and output data timing and content for thetransmit channel between the VCU and the PBX (or STU) for 16-level PSKmodulation.

FIG. 21 (on Sheet 5) is a block diagram of the CCU of both the basestation of FIG. 2 and the subscriber station of FIG. 3.

FIG. 22 shows the software-implemented functional architecture of theCCU of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a timing diagram for transferring RCC and 16-level PSK voicedata on the transmit bus of the CCU of FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is a timing diagram for transferring RCC and 16-level PSK voicedata on the receive bus of the CCU of FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 (on sheet 3) is a block diagram of the modem of the base stationof FIG. 2 and the subscriber station of FIG. 3.

FIG. 26 shows the signal interface between the CCU, the modem and theSTIMU in the base station of FIG. 2.

FIG. 27 shows the signal interface between the modem and the RFU in thebase station of FIG. 2 and in the subscriber station of FIG. 3.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of the antenna interface circuit for thesubscriber station of FIG. 3.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of the antenna interface circuit for the basestation of FIG. 2.

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS Glossary of Acronyms Used in the Specification

ACRONYM DEFINITION A/D Analog-to-Digital Converter ADPCM AdaptiveDifferential Pulse Code Modulation AGC Automatic Gain Control AMAmplitude Mcduiation BCC Baseband Control Channel BPSX Binary PhaseShift Keying Modulation BW Bandwidth CCU Channel Control Unit CODECCombined Coder and Decoder DEMOD Demodulator (Receive Portion of Modem)D/A Digital-to-Analog Converter dB Decibels DID Direct Inward Dial DMADirect Memory Access DPSK Differential Phase Shift Keying ModulationDTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency signalling scheme ECL Emitter-coupledLogic FCC United States Federal Communications Commission FIFO First-inFirst-out Memory FIR Finite-Duration Impulse-Response filter Hz Hertz(cycles per second) I In-phase IF Intermediate Frequency Kbps Kilobitsper second KHz KiloHertz Km Kilometer LSB Least Significant Bit MDPSKMulti-phase Differential Phase Shift Keying modulation MHz MegaHertzMODFM Combined Modulator and Demodulator MPM Message Processing Modulems milliseconds OCXO Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillator PBX PrivateBranch Exchange or Automatic Switch PCM Pulsed Coded Modulation PSNPublic Switched Network PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network or otherinterconnecting carrier (typically Telco) Q Quadrature QPSK QuadraturePhase Shift Keying Modulation RBTG Ringback Tone Generator RAM RandomAccess Memory RCC Radio Control Channel RELP Residual Excited LinearPrediction RF Radio Frequency RFU Radio Frequency Unit RPURemote-Connection Processor Unit ROM Read-only Memory RX Receive SBCSubband Coding SHF Super High Frequency (3,000-30,000 MHz) SINSubscriber Identification Number SLIC Subscriber Loop Interface CircuitSTIMU System Timing Unit STU Subscriber Station Telephone Interface UnitSUBTU Subscriber Timing Unit TDM Time Division Multiplexing TDMA TimeDivision Multiple Access Telco Telephone Company TX Transmit UHPUltra-High Frequency UTX-250 Switch that includes processing andinterfacing and which may be but is not necessarily a PBX UW Unique WordVCU Voice Codec Unit VCXO Voltage Controller Crystal Oscillator VHF VeryHigh Frequencies (30-350 MHz)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In this description, it is to be noted that where a particular band(e.g., 454 to 460 MHz) is used in the described embodiment, theinvention is equally applicable to at least the entire VHF, UHF and SHFbands.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system of the present invention provideslocal-loop telephone service using UHF radio between subscriber stations(S) 10 and a base station 11. The base station 11 provides callconnections directly between the radio-based subscriber stations 10 andis connected to a telephone company (Telco) central office 12 for callsto or from points outside the system.

For example, the illustrated system operates on common carrier frequencychannel pairs within the 454 MHz to 460 MHz band. This particular set offrequencies contains 26 specified channels. The channels are spaced 25KHz apart with an authorized bandwidth of 20 KHz. Spacing betweentransmit and receive channels is 5 MHz with the center frequency of thelower of the two frequencies being assigned to the base stationtransmissions. As indicated previously, the system may also operate onother UHF channel pairs.

The mode of transmission from the base station to the subscriber station(the transmit channel) is time division multiplexed (TDM). Thetransmission from the subscriber station to base station (the receivechannel) is time division multiple access (TDMA).

All systems are designed to be compatible with 47 CFR FCC Parts 21, 22and 90, as well as with other relevant rules.

Communication between the base station 11 and the subscriber stations 10is accomplished digitally by filtered multiphase differential phaseshift keying (MDPSK) modulation on 25 KHz spaced full duplex channels inthe 454 to 460 MHz band, thereby satisfying the requirements of 20 KHzbandwidth such as designated in FCC rule Parts 21, 22 and 90 (e.g.,21.105, 22.105 and 90.209). This system may also be used for other bandwidths and spacings within any feasible portion of the VHF, UHF and SHFspectrums.

The symbol rate on each 25 KHz FCC channel is 16 kilosymbols/second ineach direction. Voice transmission is accomplished using 16 level PSKmodulation and voice digitization with a coding rate of 14.6 Kbps.Alternatively, the modulation may be two-level (BPSK) or four-level(QPSK). A mixture of different modulations levels may be used on thesame channel simultaneously. With time division multiplexing, the systemprovides one conversation for each multiple-of-two phases at the 14.6Kbps rate (4 phases provides two conversations, 16 phases provides fourconversations, etc.) or more as appropriate for lower rates. This is, ofcourse, only one example since, as shown by the following chart, manydifferent combinations of modem bits/symbols or phases and Codec ratesmay be used: CHART I 2-way Conversations or Duplex Circuits Using CodecRates of: Phases Modulation 14.4 Kbps 6.4 Kbps 2.4 Kbps  4 2  4  8  8 3 6 12  16 4  8 16  32 5 10 20  64 6 12 24 128 7 14 28

The base station is capable of transmitting and receiving on any or allof the available FCC 25 KHz spaced frequency channels in the 454 to 460MHz band wherein the channels are selectable. Channel frequencyselection for each voice channel is accomplished automatically by thebase station, one at a time, but may be overridden at an operatorconsole interface provided at the base station.

The base station may have a transmitter power output of, typically, 100watts for each frequency channel.

The base station provides modulation control, and time slot andfrequency channel assignments to the subscriber stations. In addition,adaptive power control over the subscriber stations is exercised by thebase station to minimize sequential time slot differences and adjacentchannel interference.

Switching among Telco (telephone company) trunk lines and the TDM slotson the selected channel is accomplished by the base station usingpreferably a digital switch, although it is possible to substitute ananalog switch.

The base station provides triple spatial diversity capability on thereceive channels.

The subscriber station is capable of operating with three branchdiversity. The transmitter power is typically adjustable between 0.1 and25 watts, but it can be adjusted over other ranges of power. While voicecommunications through the subscriber station are perceived as beingreal time full-duplex, the RF system operates at half-duplex byutilizing appropriate time division multiplex timing methods.

The subscriber station interfaces with any telephone instrument forvoice communications, or the telephone may be built into the system. Inaddition, a data connection such as an RS-232C standard 25-pinconnection is provided for 9600 band rate data transmission betweensubscribers. The base station and the subscriber station may obtainoperating power from any feasible source, either internal or external.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the base station thatsupports the simultaneous operation of two pairs of transmit and receivefrequency channels. Each channel can process up to four phoneconnections simultaneously. In the preferred embodiment, there are manytransmit and receive channel pairs. There are several time slots in eachchannel.

One of the several available time slots is required for a radio controlchannel (RCC).

Connections between the PSTN and the subscriber stations are establishedand maintained in the private branch exchange (PBX) 15 which is residentin the base station. The PBX 15 is a model UTX-250 system, anoff-the-shelf product developed by the United Technologies BuildingSystems Group. Many of the existing features of the generic PBX systemare utilized in the control of Telco interfaces required in the systemof the present invention. The PBX 15 also converts voice informationto/from the PSTN to 64 Kbps .mu.-law companded pulse coded modulation(PCM) digital samples. From this point on, the voice information isprocessed in a digital format throughout the base station and thesubscriber stations, right up to the interface circuitry connecting tothe subscriber telephone, or as far as the subscriber transmitter andreceiver permits.

Digital voice information from the PBX 15 is next processed by a voicecompression system known as a codec 16, which reduces the voiceinformation rate from 64 Kbps to approximately 14.6 Kbps or less. Thecodec 16 uses either a Residual Excited Linear Predictive (RELP)algorithm or an SBC encoder-decoder to perform this voice ratecompression. Typically, four codecs 16 reside in a single voice codecunit (VCU) 17 for performing voice compression for the four or more timeslots in each frequency channel. Each base station VCU 17 can processfour or more full-duplex voice connections for both the transmit channeland the receive channel of each channel pair. Connections by the PBX 15determine which voice call is processed by which VCU 17 and by whichcodec 16 in the selected VCU 17. The circuits of each VCU 17 arehardware-mapped such that a voice call an a specific frequency and slotassignment in the base station is always processed by the same VCU codec16.

Each VCU 17 is connected to a channel control unit (CCU) 18. The CCU 18controls the TDMA function and also functions as a link-level protocolprocessor. Each CCU 18 takes the transmit channel outputs of the codecs16 in the corresponding VCU 17 and transmits the data in the proper timeslot and in the proper format to a modem unit 19. Each CCU 18 determinesthe modulation levels, as directed by a remote-control processor unitRPU 20, to be used for the broadcast (such as 2, 4 or 16 level PSKmodulation). Each CCU 18 also processes control information forcommunication to the subscriber stations through the radio controlchannel (RCC) time slot and during overhead control bits in the voicechannels. Each channel pair contains a series-connected combination of aVCU 17, a CCU 18 and a modem 19.

Properly formatted transmit data from each CCU 18 is transferred at a16K symbol/second rate to the modem corresponding 19. Each modem 19takes these synchronous symbols and converts them to a Gray-codedmulti-level phase shift keyed (PSK) format. The transmit channel outputof the modem 19 is a modulated IF signal. This signal is fed into theRF/IF processing unit (RFU) 21 which then converts the IF signal to theRF UHF signal in the 450 MHz range. Control signals for the modem 19 andthe RFU 21 are provided by the corresponding CCU 18, working under theoverall control of the RPU 20. The UHF signal is amplified by poweramplifiers in the RFU 21 and transferred through an antenna interfaceunit 22 to a transmit antenna 23 for open-air broadcast.

The receive function of the base station is essentially the reverse ofthe transmit function. Each RFU 21, modem 19, CCU 18, VCU 17 and the PBX15 are full-duplex in nature.

The remote-control processor unit (RPU) 20 is the central controlprocessor which conveys connection data and control messages to the CCU.The RPU 20 includes a general-purpose computer based on a Model 6800microprocessor which performs the sophisticated system managementfunctions and control mechanisms for call setup, teardown, andmaintenance. The RPU 20 also communicates with a call processor 24 inthe PBX 15 to control the interconnections between the codecs 16 and theTelco trunks accomplished by a switch matrix 25 of the PBX 15.

Each subscriber station is a relatively small unit which is located ateach user site in the system. The subscriber station connects the user'sstandard telephone set and/or data terminal or integrated acousticaltransmitter/receiver to the base station through the UHF radio channel.The subscriber station's function is very similar to that of the basestation. However, whereas the base station can operate on one or morefrequency channels simultaneously, each offering the capacity to supportseveral voice circuits, the subscriber station normally operates on onlyone frequency at a time.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a subscriber station. The functionalpartitioning is very similar to that of the base station (FIG. 2). Theuser interface function is performed by the subscriber telephoneinterlace unit (STU) in the subscriber station. The associated functionin the base station is performed by the PBX module. The STU in thesubscriber station also performs all control functions of the subscriberstation just as the RPU functions in the base station. The subscriberstations act as slaves to the master base station in the overall systemcontrol architecture. The STU may interface with an external instrumentor may transmit and receive acoustically.

Following the data flow through the subscriber station, the user voiceor data information is first processed by a subscriber terminal unit(STU) 27. The voice signal inputs from the user telephone are receivedand digitized in the VCU 28. The format for the digitized voice signalsis identical to the format used by the PBX 15 in the base station. Thesubscriber station includes a VCU 28, CCU 29, modem 30 a and a RFU 31 athat perform similar functions as the like units described above in thebase station architecture description related to FIG. 2. One differencein the subscriber station operation is that usually it is limited toonly one voice channel at a time. The subscriber station essentiallyoperates in the half-duplex mode, transmitting in a portion of the TDMAframe and receiving in a different portion of the TDM frame. With aframe size of 45 msec the half-duplex characteristic of the subscriberstation is transparent to the user, who hears continuous voice inputfrom the party at the other end of the call connection. The STU 27 andVCU 28, as well as the modem 30 a, may be duplicated to permit more thanone subscriber conversation.

The half-duplex operation of the subscriber station offers opportunityto make more efficient use of the available subscriber station hardware.The subscriber station VCU and CCU function in essentially identicalmanner as in the base station, at least as far as voice data handling isconcerned. However, the modem 30 a is set up to operate in a half-duplexmode so that either the receive or transmit portion of the modem areused, but not at the same time. The primary savings here is that the RFU31 a need only operate in half-duplex mode. This saves power in that theRF power amplifier is active for no more than half the time. Also, theRF transmit antenna 32 a can be switched to operate as a second receiveantenna during the receive portions of the frame using an RF antennaswitch function. Furthermore, no duplexer is required.

Each subscriber station also includes a diversity network includingthree modems and a diversity combiner circuit 33. The diversity combinercircuit 33 gathers demodulated receive information from each of thedemods of the three modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c and combines the threestreams to form a single “best-guess” symbol stream which is then senton to the CCU 29 to process. The demodulation circuits or demods in thethree modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c are connected to separate RX RFUs 31 a, 31b, 31 c and thereby to separate antennas 32 a, 32 b, 32 c.

In the base station, three receiver antennas 34 a, 34 b and 34 c areplaced an appropriate distance from each other to provide uncorrelatedspatially diverse signals to be processed by a diversity network. Theoperation of the diversity network is transparent to the CCU functionand therefore can be replaced by a single modem function at any timethat the diversity function is not required.

The base station also includes a spatial diversity network for eachtransmit and receive channel pair. Although the diversity network is notshown, the base station diagram of FIG. 2 is the same as that shown inthe subscriber station diagram of FIG. 3, which shows the connection ofthe diversity network for a single transmit and receive channel pair.Thus, each transmit and receive channel pair in the base stationactually contains three demods and one modem connected to a diversitycombiner circuit as shown in FIG. 3.

Accurate timing synchronization between base station and the subscriberstations is critical in the overall system. The master timing base forthe entire system is provided by the base station. All subscriber unitsin a given system must synchronize to this time base, in terms offrequency, symbol timing and frame timing.

The base station includes a system timing unit (STIMU) 35 which providesa high accuracy timing reference clock signal at 80.000 MHz. This 80 MHzreference clock signal is divided down to produce a 16 KHz clock signaland a 22.222 Hz (45 msec duration) frame strobe marker signal. All basestation transmit timing is generated from these three synchronous masterreferences. The 80 MHz clock signal is used by the modems 19 and theRFUs 21 for accurate IF and RF frequency bases. The 16 KHz clock signalprovides the symbol rate timing for transmissions on all base stationfrequencies. The 45 msec marker signal is used to denote the firstsymbol in a new frame. This marker is active for a period of one symboltime (62.5 microseconds, equal to {fraction (1/16000)} Hz). Allfrequency channels in the base station use the same time reference fortransmission. The three timing signals (80 MHz, 16 KHz and start offrame {SOF} marker) are provided to each modem 19 in the base station.The modem 19 distributes the appropriate clock signals to the CCU 18 andRFU 21 in the same series-connected transmit and receive channel pair.The 16 KHz and SOF marker are used by the CCU 18 to time thetransmission of voice and control symbols according to the current framestructure on that frequency.

The receive timing in the base station is ideally identical to the basestation transmit timing. That is, the SOF marker and symbol clocksignals should be exactly lined up between the transmit and receivesignals. However, since perfect timing synchronization cannot beexpected from the subscriber station transmission, the base stationmodem's 19 receive timing must match the incoming symbols from thesubscriber station. This is required so that the sampling period in thebase station modem 19 receive function provides the best estimate of thesymbol being received from the subscriber station. A small elasticbuffer in the CCU 18 interfaced with the modem 19 receive functioncompensates for this slight timing skew.

The subscriber stations in the overall system synchronize their timereferences to the master time base in the base station. Thissynchronization is achieved through a multiple step procedure wherebythe subscriber station initially acquires the base station timereference through the use of the RCC messages from the base station.This procedure is described below.

Once the subscriber station has initially acquired the time referencefrom the base station, a tracking algorithm in the demods of thesubscriber station modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c keeps the subscriber stationreceive timing accurate. The subscriber station advances its owntransmissions back to the base station by a small amount of time tooffset the transmission round-trip delay due to the subscriber stationranging. This method results in the transmission from all subscriberstations being received by the base station in proper phase in relationto each other.

The system timing unit (STIMU) 35 provides the time base for alltransmissions in the base station. The STIMU 35 includes a high-accuracy(3.times.10-9) ovenized crystal oscillator operating at a fixedfrequency of 80 MHz. This basic clock frequency is divided by 5000 inthe STIMU 35 to form the 16 KHz symbol clock signal and again by 720 toform a start of frame (SOF) marker signal. These three time referencesare buffered and provided to each of the base station modems.

The subscriber timing unit (SUBTU) (not shown in FIG. 3) provides a 80MHz clock signal, a 16 KHz symbol timing signal and a 45 msec durationframe marker signal for the subscriber stations. These signals areidentical to those in the base station STIMU, except that the 16 KHzclock signal is used as the receive symbol timing in the subscriberstation. The 16 KHz clock signal is used for transmit timing in the basestation. Transmit timing in the subscriber station is provided by adelayed version of the subscriber station receive timing. The delay is avariable amount determined by the ranging computation performed betweenthe base station and the subscriber station.

The timing reference signal for the subscriber station is provided by avoltage controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO) operating at a nominal 80MHz frequency. The actual frequency is adjusted by the subscriberstation modem to be frequency locked to the base station timingreference as received at the subscriber RF unit input.

Protocols

The following protocols specify the procedures for system control,collision avoidance and call signaling in the system, as well as thetransmitted frame structure. In referring to the components of thesystem, reference is made to the components of the base stationdescribed above in relation to FIG. 2, unless otherwise indicated.

The system uses 20 KHz BW full duplex channels in the 450 MHz spectralregion on 25 KHz centers and accommodates several simultaneousconversations per channel. Each full duplex channel consists of areceive and a transmit frequency separated by 5 MHz. The lower frequencyof each channel is assigned to the base station for transmission and iscalled the forward frequency. The higher frequency of each channel,called the reverse frequency, is assigned to the subscriber stations fortransmission. Thus, the base station transmits on the forward frequencyand receives on the reverse frequency. The opposite is true for thesubscriber stations.

The capability of the system to provide a spectrally efficient method oftransmitting up several voice channels on a single frequency isprimarily dependent on the modem operation. The modem 19 must operate insuch a manner as to provide 3.2 bits/Hz efficiency when operating in a16-phase DPSK mode at a 16K symbol/second rate.

The modem 19 is strictly a mechanism to convert the 1, 2, 4 or more bitsymbols from the CCU 18 to a phase-modulated IF carrier fortransmission, and to reverse the process on the receive side. Allcontrol for frame timing and mode selection is performed by the CCU 18.An interface between the CCU 18 and modem 19 may consist of two four-bitunidirectional synchronous (16K symbols/second) data busses (Tx and Rx).In addition, an 8-bit status/control bus provides control information tothe modem and reports status from the modem to the CCU 18. The modem 19also provides the CCU 18 with the master 16 KHz symbol clock signal. Inthe base station this clock signal is received from the masteroscillator in the system timing unit 35, to which the entire basestation (and therefore the entire system) is synchronized. In thesubscriber station this clock is derived from the incoming symbolsreceived from the base station. Therefore, all transmissions arereferenced to the time base in the base station. A major function of thesubscriber modem operation is to synchronize the local subscriber clocksignal to the base station time reference by decoding the timing fromthe received symbols.

The modem transmitter modulator section uses an FIR digital filter tocreate a digital representation of the waveform which is used tomodulate the RF carrier. The resultant digital stream is converted toanalog format and mixed to an IF transmit frequency of 20.2 MHz. Thesignal is then sent on to the RFU for filtering, further conversion toRF and amplification prior to transmission.

The modem receiver demodulator section takes in the IF receive signalfrom the RFU 21 at the receive IF frequency of 20 MHz. This signal isdown-converted to baseband, then digitized with an A/D converterfunction. The resultant digital samples are processed by amicroprocessor-based signal processing unit. This function performsfilter equalization and synchronization algorithms on the input samplesand then demodulates the PSK signal to yield the symbol stream at 16Ksymbols/second. The signal processing unit also functions in aself-training mode, which is used to teach the processing unit theimperfections of the analog filters used in the receive stream. Once thesignal processing unit is trained, the demodulator digital equalizationprocess compensates the input samples for these imperfections in theanalog filter components. This technique allows the use of lessexpensive lower-tolerance analog components and adds to the overallsystem ability to demodulate weak or noisy signals.

The modem demodulated symbols are output at the symbol rate to the CCU18 during the receive function. The modem 19 provides the timingassociated with this symbol stream. Both the base station and thesubscriber stations derive receive function timing from the incomingreceive signal.

A more detailed description and specification of the modem functions andperformance characteristics is set forth below in relation to FIG. 25.

The basic TDM/TDMA channel per subscriber offers a total of 16 Kbps ineach direction dedicated to each conversation. Of this channel capacity,1.43 Kbps in each direction are required for control overhead anddemodulation preambles. The VCU therefore operates at a fixed data rateof 14.57 Kbps. This is equivalent to 328 bits per codec frame period,defined as being one-half of the modem frame period or 22.5 msec.

To accommodate multiple conversations per channel, each channel isdivided into “slots” via a time division multiplexing (TDM) scheme.These slots specify the system frame format. The length of the systemframe consists of a predetermined constant number of symbols. The systemframe duration has been optimized considering the voice coding rate andthe number of acquisition symbols required by the modem 19 at the startof each burst. The number of slots within the system frame is dependenton the modulation-level of the channel. For instance, if themodulation-level of the channel is QPSK, then the system frame consistsof two slots per frame. By increasing the modulation-level of thechannel, the number of bits of information encoded per symbol increasesand, therefore, the data rate of the channel increases. At 16-level DPSKthe system frame divides into four slots, each handling the voice datarate for one conversation. It is important to note that even at thehigher modulation levels, the number of symbol times required for modemsynchronization remains constant.

The format of the system frame ensures that the modem 19 in thesubscriber stations never needs to operate in a full-duplex manner(i.e., transmitting and receiving at the same time). Hence, the slots onthe reverse and forward frequencies are offset in time by at least oneslot time.

The system frame for the system is fixed at 45 msec in duration. Thesymbol transmission rate is fixed at 16K symbols/second. Each symbol istransmitted for an equal amount of time, equal to {fraction (1/16000)}thof a second (62.5 microseconds). This results in a fixed 720 symbols perframe, numbered 0 to 719 from the start of the system frame. These 720symbols may consist of 1, 2 or 4 bits of information each, correspondingto modulation rates of 2, 4 or 16 phases.

The system frame time (45 msec) is further divided in 2 or 4 timedivision slots, depending on the modulation format for the slots whichcompose the frame. Each slot can be one of three slot types: (1) radiocontrol channel (RCC), (2) 4-ary voice channel, and (3) 16-ary voicechannel. The RCC is always transmitted in a binary (2-phase) modulationmode. The RCC and 16-ary voice channel slots each require 180 symbols totransmit, that is, one-fourth of a system frame period. Singe the 16-aryvoice channel transmits 4 bits of information per symbol (that is2.sup.4=16 phases), the 16-ary voice channel transmits 720 bits ofinformation per frame. This equates to a bit rate of 16 Kbps. Some ofthese bits are used for modem overhead and control purposes, resultingin a voice bit rate of 14.57 Kbps. The 4-ary voice channel slot requires360 symbols to transmit, equal to one-half of the system frame period.Each symbol in this slot type consists of one of four differentialphases, so that 2 bits are transmitted per symbol (2=4 phases). Theresulting bit rate is 16 Kbps, the same as for the 16-ary voice channel.The same number of bits (not symbols) are reserved for modem overheadand control purposes, so that the voice information rate is 14.57 Kbps,as it is in the 16-ary voice channel slot type.

The system frame on any given frequency channel may be composed of anycombination of these three slot types within the following fiveconstraints:

1. A maximum number (720) of symbols are transmitted each system frame.Combinations of the three slot types may be combined on a givenfrequency to accomplish this. In the event that not all channel capacityis filled in base station frame transmission (i.e., fewer than 720symbols are transmitted in a frame) null symbols are inserted to fillthe 720-symbol frame capacity. A null symbol is a symbol which has notransmitted energy.

2. Only one frequency in a multi-frequency base station includes a RCCslot type. Only one RCC is operable at any given time in the entiresystem. The frequency on which the RCC operates is set by a systeminitialization parameter and is changed only when that frequency channelbecomes unavailable for any reason. The RCC slot is always assigned tothe first 180 symbols of the system frame (denoted as Slot 0).

3. A base station frequency may operate in a constant transmission mode.The subscriber station transmits during no more than one-half of thetotal frame time. The subscriber station, when carrying oneconversation, transmits only during 25% of the frame when operating inthe RCC or 16-ary voice channel mode. The subscriber station willtransmit during 50% of the frame when operating in the 4-ary voicechannel mode. A subscriber station can only transmit in one slot duringany given frame when carrying one conversation.

4. All 4-ary voice channels must begin transmission on symbol number 0or 360. That is, either the first half or the second half of a frame maycontain a 4-ary voice channel.

5. Transmissions between the forward and reverse frequencies areassigned so that the reverse message of given slot begins transmission180 symbols after the transmission of the forward frequency message.This precludes the subscriber station from the requirement to transmiton the reverse frequency while simultaneously receiving on the forwardfrequency.

Given these restrictions up to four voice calls can be processed an asingle frequency, if all four calls consist of the 16-ary voice channelformat when operating within 14.4 Kbps codecs.

The slots within the system frame are numbered by position in the framestructure. The numbering system need not be contiguous. When one or moreof the slots in the frame consist of a 4-ary voice channel slot type,the numbering system will “skip” over the second slot period that isincluded in the longer 4-ary slot. The slot numbering system for thereverse frequency (i.e., subscriber) transmissions is staggered from thenumbering of the base station (forward frequency) transmission.Therefore, a subscriber that receives information on slot 2 of theforward frequency transmits on slot 2 on the reverse frequency, which ishalf a frame offset in time. Tables 1 through 5 illustrate possibleframe formats and the numbering associated with each slot. TABLE 1 RadioControl Channel Structure: BPSK Forward Channel: System frame = 45 ms.rarw.11.25.fwdarw.   .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.     .rarw.11.25.fwdarw..rarw.11.25.fwdarw. ms 0 1 2 3 Slot no. 180 180 No. of symbols BPSK16-PSK Modulation type FILTER BIT SYNC AM HOLE STARTUP PATTERN RCPFunction 8 8 46 112 No. of Symbols Reverse Channel: .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.  .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.     .rarw.11.25.fwdarw. .rarw.11.25.fwdarw. ms 2 30 1 Slot No. 180 180 No. of symbols BPSK 16-PSK Modulation type FILTERSTART- BIT SYNC Func- RANGE 1 tion UP PATTERN UW RCP RANGE 2 XX 8 49 8112 3-XX No. of symbols= 0/1/2/3

TABLE 2 4-ary Voice Channel Frame Structure Forward Channel: Systemframe = 45 ms .rarw.22.5 ms.fwdarw.   .rarw.22.5 ms.fwdarw. 0 2 Slot no.360 360 No. of symbols FILTER BIT SYNC CODE VCF VCF STARTUP PATTERNWORDS 0 1 Func- tion 8 18 6 164 164 No. of symbols Reverse Channel:.rarw.22.5 ms.fwdarw.   .rarw.22.5 ms.fwdarw. 0 2 Slot no. 360 260 No.of symbols FILTER BIT SYNC CODE VCF VCF STARTUP AGC WORDS 0 1 Func-tions 8 18 6 164 164 No. of symbols

TABLE 3 16-ary Voice Channel Frame Structure Forward Channel: Systemframe = 45 ms .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.   .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.    .rarw.11.25.fwdarw. .rarw.11.25.fwdarw. ms 0 1 2 3 Slot no. 180 180180 180 No. of symbols FILTER BIT SYNC CODE VCF VCF STARTUP PATTERNWORDS 0 1 Func- tion 8 5 3 82 82 No. of symbols Reverse Channel:.rarw.11.25.fwdarw.   .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.     .rarw.11.25.fwdarw..rarw.11.25.fwdarw. ms 2 3 0 1 Slot no. 180 180 180 180 No. of symbolsFILTER BIT SYNC CODE VCF VCF STARTUP AGC WORDS 0 1 Func- tion 8 5 3 8282 No. of symbols

TABLE 4 Mixed Modulation Frame Structure: 2/16-PSK and 4-PSK ForwardChannel: System frame = 45 ms .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.   .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.    .rarw.22.5.fwdarw. ms 0 1 2 Slot no. 2/16-PSK 16-PSK 4-PSKModulation type 180 180 360 No. of symbols .rarw.22.5.fwdarw.  .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.     .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.       ms 2 0 1 Slot no.4-PSK 2/16-PSK 16-PSK Modulation type 360 180 180 No. of symbolsFor each slot symbol description refer to FIG. 21 through FIG. 63.

TABLE 5 Mixed Modulation: 4-PSK and 16-PSK Forward Channel:.rarw.22.5.fwdarw.   .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.     .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.      ms 0 2 3 Slot no. 4-PSK 16-PSK 16-PSK Modulation type 360 180 180No. of symbols .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.   .rarw.11.25.fwdarw.    .rarw.22.5.fwdarw.       ms 2 3 0 Slot no. 16-PSK 16-PSK 4-PSKModulation type 180 180 360 No. of symbols

Referring to Table 3, the structure of the 180 symbol 16-ary voicechannel slot type is described. The first 8 symbols of this slot typeare referred to as filter startup bits. The filter startup period, whichis included at the beginning of every slot type, is a time in which noenergy is transmitted, giving the receive section of the modem 19 timeto purge its filters in preparation for the new slot.

Following the filter startup is a bit sync period. During this time, adegenerated 16-ary pattern is transmitted which simulates an alternatingBPSK signal. The receive section of the modem 19 uses this field toestablish the phase reference of the transmitter section of the modem19.

Next, a twelve bit code word is used to determine synchronizationbetween the subscriber and base station and to exchange control andstatus information. Code words are used to exchange the current state ofthe connection, link quality and power and timing adjustments. Eachcontrol word is encoded into ten bits using a Hamming code, which allowssingle error correction and double error detection. The CCU 18determines the gain and loss of synchronization by tracking the numberof consecutive code words received correctly or incorrectly; and the CCU18 passes synchronization changes to the RPU 20 in the base station. Inthe subscriber station, the CCU 29 passes synchronization changes to theSTU 27.

The Hamming code adds five parity bits to five bits of information toproduce a ten bit code. Each parity bit is calculated by doing amodulo-two addition of all bits in positions within the code word whichcontain the bit represented by the parity bit. Though the code word issent with all data bits contiguous, followed by all parity bits, byarranging the parity bits in positions within the word with just one biton (the position represented by the bit) and placing the data bits inthe other positions, the code can be visualized as follows: bit position1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 info: P1 P1 D1 P3 D2 D3 D4 P4 D5 P5P = parity bitD = data bitP1 = D1 + D2 + D4 + D5P2 = D1 + D3 + D4P3 = D2 + D3 + D4P4 = D5P5 = overall

When a code word is received, parity bits are calculated from thereceived data bits and compared with the received parity bits. If thecalculated overall parity bit is different from the received overallbit, then the calculated parity bit is exclusive-or'd with the receivedbits to indicate the address of the bit in error. If the calculated andreceived overall bits are the same and the other four bits are not, twoerrors have been detected. If all parity bits are the same, the data hasbeen received correctly.

The remainder of the slot contains two voice codec packets containing328 bits of information each.

Table 2 shows the symbol structure for the 4-ary voice channel. Thestructure is very similar to that of the 16-ary voice channel.Differences exist because certain allocations of symbols are dependenton a fixed number of symbols required per slot for overhead purposes,where other bit allocations are made on a fixed number of bits.

The radio control channel (RCC) serves a dual purpose of providing abasis for the subscriber stations to initially acquire the system timingfrom the base station and to provide out-of-band signaling between thebase station and the subscriber stations.

The format of the radio control channel slot is the same for the forwardand reverse channels except for the following fields. The first eightsymbols of a control slot transmitted by the base station (the forwardchannel) contains an amplitude modulation gap (“AM Hole”) which is aperiod in which no energy is transmitted. This gap is used by thesubscriber stations to uniquely identify the control channel. At thebeginning and end of the reverse channel control slot, there are a fewsymbols extra in order to allow for the fact that the subscriberstations could be off in its timing by a few symbols.

All slots contain eight symbols of “null” transmission, the filterstartup field, which enables the modem to purge its receive filters inorder to prepare for the new slot. The next field of the slot is afixed-bit sync pattern. The pattern transmitted is an alternating BPSKsignal. The receive modem uses this field to establish a phase referenceand frequency lock to the transmitting modem.

The CCU 18 constantly searches for a unique word (UW), which is aneight-symbol sequence, in order to identify an incoming RCC message. Thebase station CCU 18 must exhaustively check for a valid RCC message inevery RCC slot. It performs this task by scanning for the unique word ina window of .+−.3 symbols about the nominal UW location, based uponmaster system timing. The search algorithm starts with the nominal UWposition and shifts one symbol right and left until it (1) finds the UWpattern and (2) verifies a correct RCC checksum. The search terminatesas soon as (1) and (2) are satisfied or all possibilities have beenexhausted. The shift information, RCC message and power information aresent to the RPU 20 following a successful search.

The subscriber station CCU 29, when receiving RCC data, can be in one oftwo modes: frame search or monitor. The frame search mode is used toacquire receive frame timing from the incoming RCC data and is invokedautomatically when RCC sync is lost. The monitor mode is enteredwhenever receive frame synchronization has been acquired.

When in the frame search mode, the subscriber station CCU 29 mustexhaustively check for a valid RCC message immediately after an RCC slotis received at the subscriber station. Like the base station CCU 18, it29 performs this task by scanning for the unique word in a window of.+−.3 symbols about the nominal UW location, based upon timing derivedfrom modem AM hole detection. The search algorithm starts with thenominal UW position and shifts one symbol right and left until it (1)finds the UW pattern and (2) verifies a correct RCC checksum. The searchterminates as soon as (1) and (2) are satisfied or all possibilitieshave been exhausted. The shift information from a successful search isused to adjust the CCU generated receive framing markers. Acquisitionterminates when (1) and (2) above are satisfied for three consecutiveframes with the UW in its nominal position. The STU 27 is informed offraming acquisition when it occurs. RCC messages are not forwarded tothe STU 27 during the frame search mode.

When framing acquisition is accomplished, the subscriber station CCU 29enters the monitor mode. Only the nominal UW position is checked toavoid the possibility of false UW acquisitions. If no UW is detected forfive consecutive frames then the channel is declared out of sync andframe search mode is entered (this transition should be very unlikely orsystem performance is unacceptable). The STU 27 is informed of thisout-of-sync condition. During the monitor mode, RCC messages that have acorrect checksum and subscriber ID number (SIN) are passed on to the STU27.

The rest of the slot is used to exchange information between the basestation and the subscriber stations. The data section consists of twelvebytes. The first eight bits of data contain a link field which passesinformation regarding the status of the system, collision, detection andreservation information.

The purpose of the link level protocol is to detect erroneous messageson the radio control channel. The link protocol also resolvescontentions on the RCC slot.

The link field includes “idle transmission”, “system busy”, “collision”,transmission detected”, and “slot reservation” bits. These bits are setby the base station CCU 18 and read by the subscriber station CCU 29.

The idle transmission bit is set by the base station to indicate that anidle message has been transmitted. When a subscriber unit receives aslot with this bit set, it performs the usual synchronization and errorchecks, but does not pass the message on to the respective RPU 20 or STU27 if the message was received without error.

The system busy bit indicates that all the voice channels are allocatedand no new call requests should be attempted (for some fixed time).

The collision bit resolves contentions involving two or more subscriberstations attempting to transmit in the same control slot.

The transmission detected bit indicates that the base station hasdetected a transmission on the reverse control channel.

The slot reservation bit reserves the next slot on the reverse controlchannel.

The remainder of the data section is used for addressing and exchanginginformation during call set up and teardown procedures. Following thedata section is a 16 bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) over the uniqueword and data sections of the slot. The CRC is used to detect errorsthat occur during the transmission of the RCC messages. The CRCalgorithm involves the division of a block of data by a predefined bitsequence and the transmission of the remainder of that division as apart of the data block. The polynomial to generate the CRC is the formof:P(x)=1+x.sup.5+x.sup.12+x.sup.16  (Eq. 1)

If the CRC does verify check on a message received, the message is notpassed from the CCU 18 to the RPU 21 in the base station, or by the CCU29 to the STU 27 in the subscriber station.

When a subscriber station first powers up and comes on-line, thesubscriber station must acquire system timing and synchronizationreferenced from the base station. This acquisition is achieved viatransmission exchanges on the radio control channel (RCC) and arefinement on the voice channel. The events that lead to systemacquisition are as follows:

1. When power is first applied at the subscriber station, the systeminitializes and the subscriber station CCU 29 gives a series of commandsto the demods of the subscriber station modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c whichlead to the RCC acquisition.

2. The demod of each modem 30 a, 30 b, 30 c is first placed in itstraining mode. During this time, the modem trains its receiver digitalfilters for the characteristics of the receive analog filters. Theanalog filters may degrade due to time and temperature fluctuations.Each modem automatically adjusts its digital filter coefficients duringthe training mode to compensate for these degradations. After the CCU 29receives the status from the demods of modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c that thetraining sequence is complete, the CCU sets the receive frequency to thedefault RCC frequency. The CCU then commands the modem to acquire theRCC frequency and to search for the RCC's characteristic amplitudemodulation “gap”, referred to as the AM hole. The AM hole is a period,16 symbols in duration, when no energy is transmitted during thebeginning of RCC transmission from the base station. All othertransmitted slot-types involve only an eight symbol “null” transmission.The extra eight symbols of null information at the start of a slot burstuniquely identify that burst as the RCC.

3. The first action of the demods of modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c is toperform a coarse frequency acquisition. The received signal is processedin a digital phase-lock-loop and the subscriber VCXO is adjusted to thebase station's transmit frequency. After frequency acquisition, themodem begins to search for the AM hole. The modem searches for asequence of symbols with little or no amplitude. When this sequence isdetected for a number of frames, the modem asserts an “AM strobe” signalto initialize the CCU frame timing circuit. If no AM hole sequence isdetected, the modem returns status to the CCU that the RCC acquisitionwas unsuccessful. The CCU then begins to search out alternate RCCfrequencies in the same manner.

4. After AM hole detection the demods of modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c performrefined frequency acquisition and initial bit sync adjustments. Thefirst 60 symbols of the RCC control slot are a fixed bit sync patternused by the modem to lock onto the base station's phase (bit timing). Atthis point the RX clock at the subscriber station is useful as a symbolclock.

5. The subscriber station CCU 29 has received a coarse symbol timingadjustment via the AM strobe from the modem. After frequency acquisitionand bit sync the CCU examines data received by the modem and searchesfor the RCC unique word. This unique word gives the absolute symbolcount reference for the frame. The CCU then adjusts its symbol countersto align the counters to this reference. The subscriber station is nowaligned and locked on the base station transmission system timing (bothfrequency and symbol timing).

6. The remaining portion of system timing acquisition determines therange delay between the base and subscriber stations. This delay canrange from 0 to 1.2 symbol times (one way) in the system. During a callset up, the subscriber station sends a message to the base station overthe RCC.

7. The base station modem 19 is always searching for new subscribersbursting in. These bursts can be delayed from 0 to 3 symbols times fromthe base station master reference start of frame. During each slot, thedemods of the base station modems 30 a, 30 b, 30 c search for atransmission on the reverse RCC slot. All timing and phase informationmust be derived during the first part of the slot (preamble) else theslot and its information is lost. There are no second chances whenreceiving inbound control slots. The inbound control slots are receivedpursuant to Aloha queuing scheme on the RCC, which is described below,follow this itemization of the events that lead to system acquisition.

8. During each slot the base station modem 19 performs a fast AGCadjustment and bit timing estimation during the first 60 symbols of theslot. The receive section clock signals are adjusted to compensate forthe subscriber station 's ranging delay. The received data is thendelivered to the base station CCU 18. The CCU 18 detects the location ofthe unique word in the stream and determines the integer range delaybetween base station and the subscriber station. The modem 19 deliversAGC information to the CCU 18 for the determination of the subscriberstation TX power adjustments. The modem 19 also provides link qualityand fractional time information to the CCU 18. Link quality is used todetermine if a collision has occurred. A bad measurement of link qualityindicates that the signal was not of good quality, most probably due toa simultaneous transmission by more than one subscriber on the RCC slot.The fractional time estimate is the value computed by the modem 19 ofthe fractional range delay between the base and subscriber stations.

9. This power and range delay information is processed by the CCU 18 andforwarded to the RPU 20. The RPU 20 formats this information into theRCC format and conveys this information to the subscriber station viathe RCC control slot. The subscriber station CCU 18 decodes thisinformation and make the required adjustments to the transmit power andrange delay counters in both the modem 19 and the CCU 18. The CCU 18updates its own integer TX symbol frame counter and updates the modem'sTX clock fractional delay counters.

10. During the call connection for a subscriber station, the basestation RPU 20 allocates the frequency and slot assignment for the voicecall. This information is conveyed over the RCC and the subscriberstation CCU 29 adjusts the RX frequency and commands the modem to begindetection of the voice slot. AGC, timing and frequency information arecarried forward from the RCC operation to the voice channel operation.This is possible because all frequencies in the system are synchronizedto the same frame timing reference in the base station.

11. In order to accurately set the subscriber station timing, arefinement procedure is implemented at the beginning of each voiceconnection. During the refinement phase, the communication over thevoice channel is similar to the control channel, the modulation level isBPSK and the messages are in the RCC format, but no “AM” hole isgenerated at the base station; these new RCC messages are exchangedbetween the CCUs 18 and 29 only. The modem 19 is placed in therefinement mode at the base station and outbound control mode at thesubscriber station. During refinement the subscriber station CCU 29generates a message containing, for the most part, a fixed bit patternalong with a variable portion which indicates the acceptance orrejection of the previous message received from the base station. Thebase station modem 19 passes timing and power adjustments to the CCU 18from each slot received. Power adjustments are sent to the subscriberstation continually. Timing adjustments and control information,indicating the continuation or completion of the refinement mode, aresent out after a period of calculations. The base station CCU 18collects the timing adjustments from the modem 19 for 30 frames,calculates a mean and then sends the adjustment to the subscriberstation CCU 29. Then another 30 frame refinement operation is performedby the base station CCU 18, with the results again being sent to thesubscriber station CCU 29. The refinement phase is terminated by thebase station CCU 18, and the voice connection started, when the varianceof the adjustments received from the modem 19 are within an acceptablerange, such as 1%, or the refinement periods has taken a maximum amountof time.

During call set up and teardown, the subscriber stations communicatewith the base station by sending messages over the reverse RCC slot. Thetraffic attributes of the subscriber stations trying to access the RCCcan be characterized as stochastic in nature. When a subscriber stationwishes to transmit a message to the base station, some form of controlmechanism must arbitrate which subscriber station is allowed totransmit, singe multiple subscriber stations could be trying to transmitin the same slot. The slotted Aloha scheme is well-suited to the contextof a large population of subscribers requiring relatively infrequentrandom accesses on the RCC channel.

The slotted Aloha scheme allows subscriber stations to transmit messagesin the designated RCC slot completely independent of whether othersubscriber stations are also attempting to transmit in the same controlslot. The natural consequence of this independence of action is thatmessages from different subscriber stations may be transmitted at thesame time and therefore collide. To deal with collisions, this schemerequires that a positive acknowledgment (ACK) be sent by the basestation following the correct receipt of the subscriber station'smessage. If the ACK is not received within the maximum allotted timerequire transmission and processing delays in each direction(approximately 1-2 frame times), the subscriber station must retransmitthe message. Retransmission may be caused by an error in reception ofthe ACK at the subscriber station. In general, the subscriber stationscannot determine the cause of the problem. Thus, a random delay isselected by the subscriber stations prior to the retransmission of themessage to avoid repeated collisions with other senders that may beinvolved in a previous collision.

A complication that arises in an Aloha scheme is the fact that thechannel may become unstable if random retransmission delays are not longenough. When this happens, the channel becomes clogged withretransmission and throughput falls to zero. A backoff techniqueminimizes this problem by increasing each subscriber station's averagerandomized retransmission delay with successive retransmission.

The implications of collision retransmission and stability control foraccess delay are that the delays are typically geometricallydistributed. To avoid large variance in delay, it is thus necessary tooperate the channel at a utilization considerably less than 36%.

In particular, a utilization of 20% or less makes it unlikely that morethan one retransmission will be necessary due to collisions. Using arandom delay of, say, eight frame times for 45 msec frames, the totalaverage delay with one retransmission is then 450 msec (i.e., on averagethe delay includes: one frame delay the original transmission, plus oneframe delay for the acknowledgment, plus the eight frame random delay).

To ensure that utilization is not greater than 20%, we must consider theaverage time T between call requests per subscriber, the total number Nof subscribers, and the frame time F for values less than 36%, theutilization is given by NF/T. For F=45 msec, N=1000 subscribers, andT=30 minutes, the utilization is 1.5%.

Thus for the 20% maximum utilization value, a population of 1000subscribers each making a call on the average every half minute can besupported by a 45 ms frame time with access delays of about 45 ms whenone retransmission is required, and an average access time ofapproximately 70-80 ms. The price paid for the much lower average delayis an increased delay variance, which for the 20% or less utilizationshould rarely exceed two retransmission times, i.e., one second.

The Aloha scheme approach appears well-suited to a system having a largepopulation of subscribers requiring relatively infrequent randomaccesses on the control channel, and should allow the design goal ofsetup delays of less than one second to be achieved for the expectedpopulation parameters. In contrast, polling and fixed-TDMA techniquesgive unacceptable delays.

All phases of call processing including call establishment, calldisconnection, and slot connection, require information exchange overthe control channel and/or the control portion of the voice slot. Thefollowing describes the different phases of call processing in regardsto both subscriber station processing and base station processing.

The subscriber station's subscriber identification number (SIN) and thedialed digits are two call control items that must be supplied in a CALLREQUEST message to the base station on every call made by a subscriberstation. In the case of subscriber-station-to-subscriber-station calls,the user dials the number into a register in the subscriber station'smemory. The user initiates the communication with the base station bypushing the send key or allowing a time-out. Only when the number iscompletely assembled and stored in the subscriber station is the radiochannel used. Thus, the customer can dial at a slow rate without tyingup valuable radio control channel (RCC) bandwidth or time.

The sequence of messages generated by the subscriber stations and thebase station to establish a connection between two subscriber stationsare shown in FIG. 4. The control channel link level protocol is used tocheck the various error conditions that arise due to channel errors.Further, messages that are received by the base station on the reversecontrol frequency are automatically acknowledged in the next controlslot on the forward control frequency. The following paragraphs providea brief description of a message exchange for call establishment betweentwo subscriber stations.

When the base station receives a CALL REQUEST message on the controlchannel from a subscriber station A, it first checks the received SINfor errors. If the SIN is in error, the message is dropped. Without avalid SIN, the base station does not know who sent the message. If thedialed digits are incorrect or incomplete, the base station sends aCLEAR INDICATION message on the forward control channel frequency to therequesting subscriber station A with status information specifying theproblem.

If the origination attempt is correct and allowed (i.e., the destinationunit is not busy), the voice channel is allocated for the originatingsubscriber station A and the base station sends a PAGE in the form of anincoming-call message on the forward control frequency to destinationsubscriber station B. If the destination subscriber station B does notanswer the PAGE with a CALL ACCEPTED message after two attempts orreturns a busy condition indication via a CLEAR-REQUEST message, thenthe base station transmits a CLEAR-INDICATION message to the originatingsubscriber station A with status information of busy (i.e., destinationunit off-hook) or that the destination subscriber station is notanswering the page.

If the destination subscriber station B accepts the incoming call, thena CALL-ACCEPTED message is transmitted back to the base station and thevoice channel is allocated. When voice channel synchronization isachieved, the destination subscriber station B generates an audible ringheard at the destination subscriber station B and also generates theRINGBACK tone over the voice channel to the originating subscriberstation A.

When the destination subscriber station B goes off hook, the controlportion of the voice slot changes from a sync-ring indication to async-offhook indication and CALL PROGRESS messages are provided over thevoice channel via the base station between the two subscriber stations.The destination subscriber station B terminates the audible ring anddisconnects the RINGBACK tone from the voice channel at this point. Thecircuit is now complete, and voice/data exchange can begin.

Placing a call to an external telephone is a performed in the samemanner as calling another subscriber station. The subscriber stationmerely dials the desired digits and presses the send button or waits fortime-out. This generates a radio request message to the base station.The base station decides whether to page another subscriber station orto seize an external trunk line. In this case, an external trunk line isseized, and the dialed digits are out-pulsed on the trunk line. Whilethe digits are being out-pulsed, the voice frequency for the originatingsubscriber station is allocated. When a subscriber station receives theCALL-CONNECT message, it changes frequency and synchronizes itself tothe assigned voice channel. Once the voice channel is ready, thesubscriber station handset is disconnected from local silence andconnected to the external trunk line. From this point on, thedestination Telco central office generates all the call progress tones.

An incoming external call seizes a trunk line into the base station. Theoriginating central office sends in from 2 to 5 digits, identifying theunique digits of the destination subscriber station SIN, to the basestation over the direct inward dialing (DID) trunk line. If the dialedsubscriber station is not busy, the base station sends a PAGE MESSAGEover the RCC to the appropriate subscriber station. Three possiblesituations can occur. First, the subscriber station accepts the incomingcall and processing proceeds as described below. Second, no response isreceived. In this case, the base station retries the paging process twotimes. If the base station exhausts the retry count without an answerfrom the subscriber unit, then a RINGBACK tone is generated in theoriginating unit. The third condition is a result of the subscriberstation being busy dialing (i.e., off-hook) and returning aCLEAR-REQUEST message on the control channel. In this case, a busy toneis returned to the originating subscriber station.

In the case of a successful PAGE request, the voice channel isallocated, external ring is generated at the destination subscriberstation's handset while an audible RINGBACK tone is generated back tothe originating party, from the subscriber station. When the destinationsubscriber station answers the call (i.e., the base station detects anonhook to offhook transition), the external ring and the channelRINGBACK message are both removed. At this point, the voice channel isready for a conversation.

A normal call termination is initiated by the subscriber going on-hook.The base station detects the offhook to onhook transition via thecontrol portion of the voice channel. Upon detecting the transition, thebase station deallocates the voice channel. The channel is not allowedto be used again until the base station sees the subscriber station losesynchronization on that channel. If the call being disconnected is toanother subscriber station, an onhook indication is sent to the secondsubscriber station in the control portion of the voice channel. Thesubscriber stations resynchronize themselves to the RCC's transmissionsand send CLEAR-REQUEST messages to the base station.

Termination of a call also takes place five seconds after the basestation loses radio contact with a subscriber station.

A voice connection can be “lost” due to fading or channel interferenceat the destination receiver. The following conditions are checked at thesubscriber stations and the base station to determine if the connectionis experiencing problems: The link quality value returned from thesubscriber or base station receiver is below a predetermined thresholdfor successive receptions; a loss of word synchronization has beendetected for several successive transmissions.

Base station originated messages are broadcast to all active subscriberstations. These messages are transmitted by the base station over theradio control channel. The purpose of the broadcast message is to notifyall active subscriber stations of changes in operation of the system(i.e., change in frequency of the RCC, or a command to the modems to gointo self-test mode, etc.). These messages are not acknowledged by thesubscriber stations.

Remote-Control Processor Unit (RPU)

The RPU functions as the control computer within the base stationarchitecture; it interfaces with the CCUs 18, which communicate with theradio equipment, and the PBX 15, as shown in FIG. 2.

The RPU 20 coordinates the necessary actions for radio call processing.The RPU 20 exchanges messages with the subscriber stations, the PBX 15and the CCUs 15 in order to make connections and disconnections.Included in the call processing functions is the allocation anddeallocation of the radio channels. The RPU 20 also maintains a databasethat reflects the current state of the system; the database containsinformation on the status of the equipment, subscriber stations,connections and the radio channels within the system.

Call establishment begins when the RPU receives a message either fromthe PBX call processor 24 for a call received from an external line, orfrom a subscriber, for a call destined for an external phone or anothersubscriber. Communication from a subscriber comes in over the radiocontrol channel (RCC) via a base station CCU 18. The RPU allocates avoice channel and exchanges messages with the subscriber station, thePBX 15 and the CCU 18 in order to establish the connection.

A disconnection begins by a message being a received from the PBX 15 ora subscriber indicating that a phone was hung up or from the CCU 18indicating that synchronization was lost over the radio channel. The RPUinforms the CCU 18 and the PBX 15 of the disconnect and the RCC isdeallocated.

The RPU software performs the following functions:

-   -   1. Processes subscriber, CCU and PBX messages which control call        setup, call teardown and channel allocation;    -   2. Initializes and maintains a read/write system database;    -   3. Supports a system console which allows system queries and        manual system control;    -   4. Handles the BCC interfaces by supporting the baseband control        channel (BCC) communications protocol over a 9600 baud        asynchronous serial interface;    -   5. Handles the PBX interface by supporting the PBX message        protocol; and    -   6. Keeps a transaction log which supplies diagnostic and raw        billing data.

The RPU software supports one serial interface to the PBX call processor24. It also supports serial interfaces to each of the CCUs 18 in thebase station configuration.

The RPU hardware includes a Motorola Model 68000 based general-purposecomputer. This machine is configured with one Mbyte of random accessmemory (RAM) and 10 Mbytes of non-volatile hard disk storage. I/Oconsists of a system console and a unit which supports eightasynchronous serial data interfaces.

As shown in FIG. 5, the RPU software package simulates a system thatincludes a scheduler module 40, a BCC interface module(s) 41 a, 41 b, .. . 41 n, a PBX interface module 42, a console module 43, a loggermodule 44, a message processing module (MPM) 45, and a database module46.

All modules, except the database module 46, are called to run from thescheduler module 40. The modules communicate with each other through asystem of mailboxes. The database module 46 is based upon a collectionof subroutines for accessing information in the database.

The scheduler module 40 provides mainline code for the RPU software. Itis responsible for scheduling and activating all other modules. It alsois responsible for maintaining event timers and mailboxes which allowintra- and inter-process communication.

The BCC interface modules 41 a, . . . 41 n support a serial asynchronousinterface and a link level protocol. They also monitor the state ofcommunication with the CCUs 18.

The PBX interface module 42 supports a serial asynchronous interface tothe PBX call processor 24.

The console module 43 provides a system operator interface which allowssystem status queries and modifications and message exchange between theRPU 20 and the rest of the system.

The logger module 44 provides raw transaction information for diagnosticand system analysis purposes.

The message processing module 46 processes all received RCC, BCC and PBXmessages. It performs all subscriber call set up and tear down notperformed by the PBX 15 and allocates the radio channels. It alsoincludes a background task which monitors the state of the CCUs 18.

The database module 46 provides a consistent interface to all of thedata structures required for call processing. It includes a frequencyallocation task which assigns the radio channels.

The RPU database contains structure describing the system configurationincluding information on all subscribers and the state of all radiochannels. These structures are described as follows:

The RPU database contains a baseband control channel (BCC) datastructure for each CCU 18 in the system.

A subscriber identification table (SIN table) contains a sorted list ofall valid subscribers. The list is sorted to facilitate subscribervalidation. The SIN table has one entry for every subscriber in thesystem.

The RPU software performs a portion of the subscriber unit callprocessing. This processing is done in the message processing module.Call processing is accomplished by means of message exchanges betweenthe MPM 45, the PBX module 42 and all of the BCC modules 41.

Initiating a Phone Call from a Subscriber Station

This section briefly describes the normal call setup procedure for asubscriber initiated phone call. A subscriber (the “originatingsubscriber”) goes off-hook, dials a valid phone number (the phone numberof the “destination”) and presses the send button or waits for atime-out. The originating subscriber station sends a CALL REQUESTmessage over control channel to the base station. The RPU BCC modules 41receives the RADIO REQUEST message and forward it to the MPM 45. The MPM45 performs some simple dialed digit validation and sends a RADIOREQUEST message to the PBX module 42 which forwards the message to thePBX control processor 24. The PBX call processor 24 validates the dialeddigits and returns a PLACE CALL message to the RPU 20. The MPM 45assigns a voice slot to the originating subscriber station. The MPM 45generates a CHANGE CHANNEL command to the CCU 18 that contains the voiceslot that the originating subscriber station is assigned to. The MPM 45generates a CALL CONNECT command to the originating subscriber station,which command assigns the voice frequency and slot to the originatingsubscriber station. The MPM 45 generates an ALLOCATE message to the PBXcall processor 24 which tells the PBX call processor 24 to allocate amessage channel. At this point, the originating subscriber station iscompletely set up. It is now awaiting a connection through the PBXswitch matrix 25 to the “destination”. The “destination” can be eitheranother subscriber station or a telephone that must be accessed over aTelco trunk line 14, it makes no difference.

Receiving a Call on a Subscriber Station

This section briefly discusses how an incoming call to a subscriberstation is handled. The PBX call processor 24 determines that a phonecall is destined for a subscriber station. The PBX call processor 24generates an INCOMING CALL message. This message contains informationabout the nature of the incoming call, specifically whether the call iscoming from an external trunk line 14 or from another subscriberstation. The RPU PBX module 42 receives the PBX message from the PBXcall processor 24 and forwards it to the MPM 45. If the call is comingfrom another subscriber station, the MPM 45 sets thesubscriber-to-subscriber index of both the “originating” and“destination” subscriber stations and commands the CCUs involved 18 togo into internal mode. The MPM 45 generates a PAGE message to thesubscriber station specified in the INCOMING CALL message. The propersubscriber station responds with a CALL ACCEPT message. The MPM 45responds to the CALL ACCEPT message by generating a CHANGE CHANNELmessage to the appropriate CCU 18 and a CALL CONNECT message to theappropriate subscriber station. The MPM 45 then generates an ALLOCATEmessage to the PBX call processor 24 which causes the PBX switch matrix25 to make the final connection for the incoming call.

Drop Out Recovery

This section briefly describes the RPU 20 response to a channel fadewhile a conversation is in progress. The CCU 18 handling the voicechannel which fades sees the channel lose synchronization. The CCU 18generates a NO-SYNC event message. The BCC module 41 receives the eventmessage and forwards it to the MPM 45. The MPM 45 sends an ONHOOKmessage to the PBX call processor 24 and sets the subscriber to the idlestate and the channel to the on-hook state.

Processing an Incoming BCC Message

A BCC message is passed via a 9600 baud asynchronous interface from theCCU 18 to the RPU 20. The BCC module 41 which handles that particularCCU interface reads in the message and checks the link-level informationbits to verify the integrity of the incoming message. If the BCC module41 determines that the message is acceptable, an appropriateacknowledgment is returned to the sending CCU 18. Otherwise a retry ornegative-acknowledgment is returned. The BCC module 41 now sends themessage to the MPM 45. This message is placed in the message processingmailbox 48 utilizing the mailboxes provided by the scheduler module 40.(See FIG. 6.)

If there is no more input from the CCU 18, and the BCC mailbox 49containing output messages to the CCU is empty, the BCC module 41“blocks”, and control passes to the scheduler module 40.

The scheduler module 40 activates the next module in the round-robinschedule, and this module runs until it blocks. The scheduler modulethen activates another, and so on. At some later point, the schedulermodule activates the MPM 45.

The MPM 45 then reads in the BCC message, along with any other messagesthat have been queued up for it in its mailbox 48. The BCC message isidentified and processed. Such processing may include changes to thedatabase and the generation of new messages. FIG. 6 illustrates the datapath of an incoming message.

Generating an Outgoing BCC Message

FIG. 6 also illustrates the data path of an outgoing BCC message. Anoutgoing BCC message is generated by the MPM 45 in response to someparticular event. The message is constructed within the MPM 45 and ismailed to the BCC module 41 which handles the destination CCU 18. Afterthis message, and any other necessary messages are sent, and if thereare not more messages in the MPM's mailbox 48, the MPM “blocks”, andcontrol is returned to the scheduler module.

The BCC module reads the message from its mailbox 49 and adds theappropriate link level bits to the outgoing message. It then transmitsthe message out the serial data port to the CCU 18.

Processing RCC Messages

An incoming RCC message is handled exactly like an incoming BCC messagesince an RCC message is a type of BCC message. Also, an outgoing RCCmessage is created and transmitted in the same way as an outgoing BCCmessage.

Processing an Incoming PBX Message

A PBX message is received from the PBX call processor 24. This messageis passes via a 9600 baud asynchronous interface to the RPU 20.Referring to FIG. 7, the RPU PBX module 42 reads in the PBX message andsends it to the MPM mailbox 48. When there are no more incomingcharacters and the PBX mailbox 50 containing outgoing PBX messages isempty, the RPU PBX module 42 “blocks”, and control is passed back to thescheduler module 40.

The MPM 45 reads in the PBX message, along with any other messages thathave been queued up for it in its mailbox 48. The PBX message isprocessed based on the type of the message and the current state of thesubscriber specified in the message. Processing may include changes tothe database, changes in the subscriber state and the generation of newmessages. FIG. 7 illustrates the data path of the incoming PBX message.

Generating an Outgoing PBX Message

Referring again to FIG. 7, an outgoing PBX message is generated by theMPM 45 in response to an event. The message is constructed within theMPM 45 and is mailed to the PBX module 42. After this message, and anyother necessary messages are sent, and if there are no more messages inthe MPM mailbox 48, the MPM 45 “blocks”, and control is returned to thescheduler module 40.

The scheduler module 40 continues to activate other modules in theround-robin schedule until the RPU PBX module 42 is activated.

The RPU PBX module 42 reads the PBX message from its mailbox 50 and thentransmits the message out the serial data port to the PBX call processor24.

Generating Logger Messages

At relevant points in each of the modules in the RPU software package, amessage containing pertinent information is mailed to the logger module44. This information is time stamped and output to a file. FIG. 8illustrates the logger data paths.

Console Input/Output Module

The console module 43 input section provides command prompting andrecognition along with command validation. Valid console commands havethe capability to query and update the RPU database and send messages toRPU modules. The output resulting from console display commands will beoutput directly to the console port.

Scheduler Module

The scheduler module 40 is considered to be a special system module andis responsible for scheduling all the other RPU modules. The mainresponsibilities of the scheduler module 40 are to select the nextmodule to be executed and to provide inter- and intra-modulecommunication.

Although all the various RPU modules can be thought of as separatemodules, in reality, all the modules are one application process of aRegulus operating system. It is the scheduler module 40 which performsthe round-robin dispatching of the other RPU modules. The schedulermodule 40 manages the stack for each of the pseudo RPU modules byallocating a fixed part of stack space to each of the pseudo modules atstartup time. Then just before each module is scheduled to run, thestack pointer is changed by the scheduler module 40 to point to theappropriate stack address for the proper module. A memory map of the RPU20 is shown in FIG. 9.

Each RPU module runs until it blocks. When a module blocks, it returnscontrol back to the scheduler which allows another module to bescheduled and run. A module can block in several ways: by call GETEVENT() which forces the module to block until an event is pending, or bycalling WAIT( ) which blocks for a certain number of seconds, or bycalling BLOCK( ) which blocks for one tour of the round-robin schedulingloop.

Another major function that the scheduler module 40 performs isinter-module communication between modules. Mailboxes are used as themeans form sending or receiving messages to or from other modules. Eachmodule can check for mail in its mailbox by using the MAILREAD( ) call.Likewise, a module can send mail to another module by using theMAILSEND( ) call. The scheduler module maintains a separate mailbox foreach of the modules that are in the scheduling loop. When one modulesends a message to another module, the message is copied into thedestination's mailbox. Later, when it is the destination's turn to run,the scheduler module checks its mailbox to determine whether there is amessage in the mailbox. If so, the scheduler module 40 generates anevent of type MAIL which forces the module to be unblocked, if blockedby a GETEVENT( ), and thus scheduled to run.

An event list is also maintained by the scheduler module for each modulein the scheduling loop. Events can consist of mail or timer events. Mailevents are generated whenever the scheduler module determines thatmessages are pending for the currently running module. A module can puta timer event on the event list by calling PUTEVENT( ) with the numberof seconds to wait before an event is to be generated. The schedulermodule 40 checks the module's event list each tour through theround-robin scheduling loop searching for timer expirations. When atimer expiration is detected, the appropriate module is scheduled to runand the event is returned to the module through the GETEVENT( ) call.

The scheduler module 40 contains routines that are used to initializeRS-232 interfaces between the CCU 18 and the RPU 20 and between the PBX15 and the RPU 20. These routines, which take exclusive software controlover the RS-232 interfaces, turn off the usual processing of controlsequences by the Regulus operating system. Other routines are used toflush the I/O buffers and to read and write terminal input and output.The scheduler module 40 also keeps track of the system times for all theRPU modules.

BCC Interface Module

Each BCC module 41 provides an interface between a CCU 18 and the othersoftware modules in the RPU 20. The messages exchanged between the CCU18 and the RPU 20 consists of variable length binary data which aretransmitted over an asynchronous communication link. The BCC module 41is responsible for providing message integrity over the communicationslink which includes error detection, message sequencing and messageacknowledgments.

The hardware interface between the CCU 18 and the RPU 20 consists of a9600 baud RS-232 asynchronous interface.

Inputs to this module 41 include messages received from the CCU or fromother RPU software modules. Messages are output from this module toeither the CCU via the RS-232 interface or to other RPU software modulesvia the proper mailbox.

The purpose of this module 41 is to process message traffic between theRPU 20 and the CCU 18. This module 41 continually checks for messagesreceived from the CCU 18 and routes them to the proper RPU softwaremodule. Likewise, this module is continually checking for messages fromother RPU software modules that are destined for a CCU 18. Analternating bit protocol is utilized to limit outstanding messages(i.e., unacknowledged) to one in each direction. Sequence andacknowledgment bits serve as the necessary flow control to accomplishthis function. The protocol is described in greater detail in thefollowing paragraphs.

In the following discussion, one entity that can process messages islabeled “we” or “us”, and the other is labeled “they” or “them”. Theprotocol can be explained by indicating the actions to be taken when amessage is received. There are only four basic actions, which depend ontwo conditions. These conditions are determined by comparing thesequence and acknowledgment bits of the received message with thoseexpected.

On an arriving message, the ACK bit is as expected if it is the same asthe SEQ bit of our last transmitted message. Similarly, the SEQ bit isas expected if it differs from the SEQ bit of the last received message.In other words, the expected conditions are that an incoming messageacknowledges our last message and we also expect each new arrival to bea new message.

The actions taken upon receiving a message are now summarized under fourcombinations generated by the above conditions:

1. ACK as expected; SEQ as expected. Mark our last transmitted messageas being acknowledged (enabling us to transmit a new message). Processthe newly arrived message (acknowledge it in the next message we send).

2. ACK as expected; SEQ not as expected. Mark our last transmittedmessage as being acknowledged (enabling us to transmit a new message).Discard the newly arrived message (do not acknowledge it).

3. ACK not as expected; SEQ as expected. If we have transmitted amessage that has not been acked yet, resend it. If we do not have such amessage then something has gone wrong at the destination and we shouldReset as described below. Process the newly arrived message.

4. ACK not as expected; SEQ not as expected. Our last message has notbeen received at the destination. Retransmit it. Discard the newlyarrived message.

The Reset bit is used to reset the SEQ and ACK bits. When we receive amessage with the Reset bit on, it should be accepted as a new messageregardless of its SEQ bit, and it should be acknowledged. Furthermore,the ACK bit on the received message reflects the SEQ bit of the lastmessage that they received from us. We should toggle this bit beforesending the next message. As an example, if we receive a message whoseACK/SEQ digit is “4” (Reset=1, ACK=0, SEQ=0), then the ACK/SEQ digit onthe response should be “1” (Reset=0, ACK=0, SEQ=1). Either side mayreset when it thinks that the protocol has gotten out of step.

When we receive a message from them, and have no new message pending ora standard reply is not soon forthcoming, we will acknowledge themessage by sending a special ACK message. The ACK bit will acknowledgethe received message, but the SEQ bit will not change from the lastmessage we sent. Tis will cause them to process the acknowledgment andto discard the newly arrived message. The content of this message is anull message. However, as this message is discarded anyway, the contentof this message should be irrelevant.

PBX Interface Module

The PBX module 42 provides the interface between the UTX-250 PBX callprocessor 24 and the other software modules of the RPU 20. The messagesexchanged between the two machines are to consist of an ASCII characteroriented message exchange. The ASCII character is defined here to be 7or 8-bit ASCII. Both the PBX call processor 24 and the RPU 20 must becapable of accepting characters with odd, even or no parity. The text ofthe messages consist of variable length strings or printable characters.

The hardware interface between the PBX call processor 24 and the RPU 20consists of a 9600 baud RS-232 asynchronous interface.

Inputs to the PBX module 42 include messages received from the PBX callprocessor 24 or from other RPU software modules. Messages are outputfrom this module to either the PBX call processor 24 or to other RPUsoftware modules via the proper mailbox.

The purpose of the PBX module 42 is to process message traffic betweenthe RPU 20 and the PBX call processor 24. This module continually checksfor messages received from the PBX call processor 24 and routes them tothe proper RPU software module. Likewise, this module is continuallychecking for messages from other RPU software modules that are destinedfor the PBX call processor 24.

Every character that is received from the PBX call processor 24 ischecked for equality with the greater-than character > which indicatesthe beginning of a message or a carriage return character whichindicates the end of a message. This module is capable of handlingfull-duplex message traffic.

Console Module

The console module 43 is the operator's window into the current state ofthe RPU 20. The console provides capability to display informationregarding the current state of the subscribers and the radio channels,modify connection and channel states and send messages to the PBX 15 andthe CCUs 18. The console processes the input stream from the terminaland executes the desired command.

The console module 43 provides the interface to the base stationoperator's terminal. The console module 43 processes the input from theterminal and executes the command. Data is retrieved from and writteninto the database, displays are output to the terminal screen andmessages are sent to other modules. The interfaces for this moduleinclude:

-   -   (1) Characters are input from the operator's keyboard.    -   (2) Characters are output to the operator's screen.    -   (3) Data is retrieved from and written into the database.    -   (4) Messages are sent to the PBX, BCC and message processing        modules.

A set of parser routines input characters from the operator's keyboard.A data entry prompt is displayed at the beginning of each command line,the data is buffered, the editing characters processed, the input echoedto the display and the data delimited into tokens. By providing theparser with a set of data structures describing all possible commandsand valid tokens within each command, the parser performs recognition onthe data entered, responds to question marks and displays guide wordsfor data entry. Each token is checked that it is the type of dataexpected; keywords are matched with the list of acceptable entries andnumbers are converted to integers. Once the command line entry iscomplete further verification takes place; numbers are checked to bewithin range and with some commands the state of the system is checkedbefore the command is executed.

Commands break into three categories: (1) commands that displayinformation from the database, (2) commands that modify the database and(3) commands that send messages. Information can be displayed onsubscriber, connection, CCU and channel status. All display commandsrequire information to be retrieved from the database and formatted dataoutput to the operator's display. The modification commands include theability to force a subscriber's connection on a particular channel andthe ability to enable and disable channels. The modification commandsare used in testing the frequency allocation algorithm. All modificationcommands write into the database.

PBX, BCC and RCC messages can be sent from the console module 43 tovarious other modules in the system. A SENDMSG commands prompt theoperator for all information needed for the message, the message isformatted and forwarded to the indicated module. PBX messages are sentto the RPU PBX module 42 which sends the message out to the PBX callprocessor 42. BCC and RCC messages can be sent from the RPU 20 to theCCUs 18 via the BCC modules 41, which add the link level protocol bitsto the outgoing messages. Input from the CCUs 18 is stimulated andmessages, including both BCC and RCC messages, are forwarded to the MPM46.

Logger Module

The logger module 44 is responsible for logging RPU events or messages.The logger module 44 maintains the following three disk files: atransaction log with information similar to billing information, anerror log consisting of error messages, and a message log which consistsof system warning messages.

The logger module 44 consists of a set of subroutines which are calledfrom the other RPU modules. Each subroutine is responsible for timestamping the message and writing the message to the proper disk file.Each subroutine has a global flag which determines whether messages areto be logged or not. The global flags are set and reset by using consolecommands.

Message Processing Module (MPM)

The MPM 45 performs the high-level call processing functions between thePBX 15 and the subscriber stations. It is responsible for callprocessing functions such as initiating pages, allocating voice channelsand controlling call progress tones form both subscriber an externaltelephones. The MPM 45 also processes status messages that it receivesfrom the CCUs 18. For example, channel status information consisting oflink quality or subscriber hook status is processed by the MPM 45.

The MPM 45 is organized as a state machine where PBX and BCC messagesare tokens to the messages processing state machine. The MPM 45processes the tokens by updating the database, outputting the necessaryresponses and then transitioning to the next state.

The MPM 45 uses the system mailboxes, which are maintained by thescheduling module 40, to receive and transmit messages to and from theother RPU modules. Also, the MPM 45 utilizes subroutines in the databasemodule to retrieve or update state information in the database.

As previously described, the MPM 45 is organized as a state machine.Tokens, which force some processing to be performed, consists ofmessages, or timeouts. The MPM 45 determines the type of token (i.e.,timer, RCC message, PBX message, etc.) and the subscriber station orchannel that is affected by the token. The MPM 45 processes the token bygenerating the proper message responses and transitioning to the nextstate.

The MPM 45 actually consists of two states tables. The RCC statemachine, which is shown in FIG. 10, is used to process messages from thePBX call processor 24 or RCC messages from a subscriber station. Thechannel state machine, which is shown in FIG. 11, is used to processmessages received from a CCU 18.

Initially, all subscribers are in the RCC idle state and all channelsare in the channel idle state which indicates that no connections areset up or in progress.

The changes of state for a typical external to subscriber call are asfollows. An external call message is received from the PBX callprocessor 24, which message includes the phone number of the destinationsubscriber station of the call. A PAGE message is sent out to thesubscriber station and the state of the subscriber station is set toPAGE. When a CALL ACCEPT message is received from the subscriberstation, the state of the subscriber station is set to ACTIVE. At thispoint, a channel is assigned, and the PBX call processor 24, CCU 18 andthe subscriber station are informed of the channel assignment. Thechannel is placed into the RING SYNC-WAIT state (FIG. 11). When the CCU18 indicates the synchronization has been acquired, the channel state isset to SYNC RING. Finally, when CCU 18 indicates that the subscriber hasgone offhook, the channel is set to the SYNC OFFHOOK state. The SYNCOFFHOOK state indicates that a voice connection is established.

A subscriber-to-subscriber call begins with a CALL REQUEST message beingreceived from the originating subscriber station. The originatingsubscriber station is placed into the DIAL state and a RADIO REQUESTmessage is sent to the PBX call processor 24. The PBX call processor 24then returns a PLACE CALL message for the originating subscriber stationand an INCOMING CALL message for the destination subscriber station. Inresponse to the PLACE CALL message, a channel is allocated, the PBX callprocessor 24, the CCU 18 and originating subscriber station are informedof the assignment. The channel state of the originating subscriber isset to OFFHOOK SYNC WAIT until the channel goes into synchronization.When the base station CCU 18 detects the transmission from theoriginating subscriber, it generates a SYNC OFFHOOK channel eventmessage. The RPU 20 processes the channel event message by changing thestate of the channel to the SYNC OFFHOOK state. An incoming call messagefor the destination subscriber station is processed in the same manneras the external call message as described above. In addition, thechannels involved in the connection are set to internal mode once bothsubscribers are in synchronization.

A disconnection begins when one of the parties involved in a connectiongoes ONHOOK. When a phone that is external to the system is hung up, anONHOOK message is received by the MPM 45 from the PBX call processor 24.When a subscriber goes ONHOOK, the CCU 18 sends a message whichindicates that the subscriber station is ONHOOK. In either case, theother party is informed of the disconnect, the channel is placed intothe DISCONNECT state and the subscriber station is placed into theTEARDOWN state. When the CCU 18 indicates that synchronization has beenlost, the channel and the subscriber station are placed back into theidle states.

Background Tasks

A background task routine is implemented by the MPM 45. The backgroundtask initially communicates with the CCUs 18 after a cold or warmrestart. Also, once the system is operation, the background taskmonitors the CCUs 18 in order to keep the database current and a RCCassigned.

BCC messages, generated by both the CCUs 18 and by the BCC modules 41,are received from the BCC modules 41. Messages are sent to the CCUs 18via the BCC modules 41.

Data is written into and retrieved from the database.

Initially, all CCUs 18 are sent BASEBAND QUERY messages in order for theRPU 20 to determine the current state of the system. All informationreceived from baseband event or response messages is stored in the RPUdatabase. When the RPU 20 receives a baseband event message, whichindicates that a CCU 18 is ready and not reset (i.e., the CCU 18 has notjust powered up), the frequency assigned to the CCU 20 is marked asallocated. The CCU 18 is then sent CHANNEL QUERY messages in order toupdate the database to the current state of the system. CCUinitialization is complete once each CCU 18 has either responded to alloutstanding query messages or it is determined that the CCU 18 is down.At this time, each CCU 18 that indicated it was ready and reset (i.e.,the CCU had just powered up) is assigned a frequency. If no controlchannel has been assigned to a CCU 18, then the RPU 20 attempts toassign the control channel. The first choice is to assign the controlchannel to the CCU 18 on the first frequency, since this is where thesubscriber first looks for the RCC. The next choice is any CCU 18 withslot 0 not in use and the last choice is a CCU 18 with a connection onslot 0. If all the operational CCUs 18 already have a connection on slot0, then one of the connections on slot 0 is terminated and the controlchannel is assigned to that slot.

Once the RPU 20 has communicated with all the CCUs 18, the state of theCCUs 18 is monitored via status messages received from the CCUs 18 orthe BCC modules 41. The BCC modules 41 are continually monitoring thecommunication path to each CCU 18. A CCU 18 is considered out ofoperation when a baseband event message is received indicating that theCCU 18 is not ready. At this time, the CCU 18 is marked as not ready inthe database. Further, all connections are torn down, all channels arereturned to the default state and the frequency assigned to the CCU 18is deallocated. If the CCU 18 contained the control channel, then a newcontrol channel is assigned.

When a baseband event message is received, which indicates that a CCU 18is ready and reset, the CCU 18 is assigned a frequency. If no controlchannel is currently assigned to a CCU 18, then slot 0 of the reset CCUis assigned the control channel.

If a baseband event message is received, which indicates that a CCU 18had lost communication with the RPU 20, then CHANNEL QUERY messages(i.e., one for each of the four channels) are sent to the CCU 18 toupdate the RPU database with the current state of each of the CCU'schannels. As a response to each CHANNEL QUERY message is received, thecurrent channel state and connection information is updated in thedatabase. If a channel is in the SYNC WAIT state, then it is assumedthat the subscriber is no longer involved in the connection and theconnection is torn down.

Initially, the CCUs 18 are queried from the RPU 20 for their initialstates. The CCUs 18 also send in event messages whenever they power upor change state. The exchange of messages keeps the RPU database up todate with the current state of the system.

Database Module

The database module 46 contains the database interface routinesnecessary for database access. They provide a concise single-threadinterface into the database for any module requiring access to theinformation within. The bulk of the access routines are concerned withthe SIN table and the BCC Table. Access to all fields within thesetables is provided by the access routines.

The database module is also responsible for database initialization atstart-up. All significant fields are initialized to appropriate valuesby the initialization portion of the database module.

The database module also provides the following:

-   -   (1) Routines to support TTY initialization;    -   (2) A binary search routine for subscriber searches in the SIN        table;    -   (3) Routines and tables to support frequency-to-CCU mapping;    -   (4) Control of diagnostic display information; and    -   (5) Frequency Allocation.

The database module 46 is a collection of routines which allowcontrolled access to the database by other modules. By channeling allaccesses through the database routines, the database is essentiallyhidden from outside modules. This allows the database to change withoutrequiring modifications to any of the other modules. When the databasechanges, only the interface routine to the changed portion of thedatabase needs to be changed.

Frequency Allocation Task

The frequency allocation task performed by the RPU 20 selects anappropriate frequency and slot for a subscriber station that requires avoice channel. The selection algorithm takes into consideration calltype (i.e., internal or external) and modulation level (i.e., 16-ary or4-ary). Although the frequency allocation task is functionallyindependent from the database module 46, it is closely tied to the datastructures within the database. Because of this fact, this function isdescribed separately from the database module, even though it istechnically a routine within the database module 46.

The frequency allocation task is used by the MPM during call setup. Itmakes extensive use of the data structures within the database module.

All frequency allocation requests fall within one of two categories. Thefirst is the external-source category and the second is theinternal-destination category. The internal-destination category coversthe incoming part (i.e., destination) of an internal call. Theexternal-source category covers all other cases which includes externalcalls whether they are incoming or outgoing or the origination of aninternal call.

Input into the frequency allocation task consists of an index into theSIN table of the subscriber station requesting a channel and the indexinto the SIN table of the originating subscriber station. The index ofthe originating subscriber station is only valid when the channel isbeing set up for an internal-destination call. At all other times, theoriginating subscriber index is a predefined illegal index defines as DBNULL. These indexes provide access to all the information required toallocate an appropriate channel (i.e., frequency and slot).

The frequency allocation routine returns a value of TRUE if afrequency-slot combination is successfully allocated. It returns FALSEotherwise. If allocated, the frequency and slot selected are put intothe SIN table for the subscriber station requesting the frequencyassignment.

Each frequency is divided into four TDM slots. The RPU databasemaintains a count of how may slots are available in each position. Whenan allocation request falls within the external-source category, a slotis selected from the slot position with the greatest vacancy count. Oncea slot position is selected, the first frequency with that slotavailable is selected. Actually, it doesn't matter which slot isselected when a request falls within this category. However, thistechnique tends to distribute the system load evenly across all slotsand, more importantly, it increases the probability of optimal slotassignments for both parties of an internal call. This is true becausesystem timing calculations have shown that the optimal slot assignmentfor a subscriber-to-subscriber call is to have the base station'stransmit slot for each subscriber in the same slot on differentfrequencies. By assigning the originator of a subscriber-to-subscribercall to the most available slot position, the probability is greaterthan when the time comes, the destination subscriber station will beable to allocate that same slot position on another frequency. Forexample, if position No. 2 is the most available position then it isselected. When the destination subscriber station's allocation requestis processed, it is more probable that another slot in position No. 2 isavailable to be selected, thus allowing the optimal slot-to-slotassignment to occur.

When an allocation request falls within the internal-destinationcategory, the slot to be assigned is chosen from a selection table. Aselection table contains lists, ordered from the most to the leastdesirable slot position assignments for the destination subscriber. Thisordering is based on the slot assignment of the originating subscriber.Up to this point, modulation type has not been mentioned. This isbecause the basic allocation rules do not change for 4-ary and 16-aryslot selections, except for one important exception. That is, only slot0 or slot 2 may be allocated for a 4-ary type connection. Because ofthis exception, and due to the fact that the two subscribers could beset to different modulation types, a total of four unique selectiontables are required in order to cover all possible call combinations.They are as follows: TABLE 6 Originating 1st 2nd 3rd 4th slot choicechoice choice choice slot 0 0 1 3 2 slot 1 1 0 2 3 slot 2 2 1 3 0 slot 33 0 2 1 rating.fwdarw. (1) (2a) (2b) (3)16-ary (destination) from 16ary (originator) internal call preferredslot selection table

Note that each column of every table has a rating associated with it.This rating indicates the desirability of a particular slot. The mostdesirable slot will have a rating of 1, and less desirable slots willhave ratings of 2, 3, etc. If two or more columns of a selection tablehave equal desirability, they will have the same rating number followedby an alphabetical character. For example, if three columns are rated 2a, 2 b and 2 c respectively, all three of these columns have an equaldesirability, and their ordering (a, b, c) is arbitrary. TABLE 7Originating 1st 2nd 3rd 4th slot choice choice choice choice slot 0 0 12 3 slot 2 2 3 0 1 rating.fwdarw. (1a) (1b) (2a) (2b)16-ary (destination) from 4ary (originator) internal call preferred slotselection table

TABLE 8 Originating 1st 2nd slot choice choice slot 0 0 2 slot 1 0 2slot 2 2 0 slot 3 2 0 rating.fwdarw. (1) (2)4-ary (destination) from 16ary (originator) internal call preferred slottable

TABLE 9 Originating 1st 2nd slot choice choice slot 0 0 2 slot 2 2 0rating.fwdarw. (1) (2)4-ary (destination) from 4ary (originator) internal call preferred slotselection table

The frequency allocation task has two inputs. These inputs provideaccess to crucial information required for proper frequency and slotselection.

The first input is the index into the SIN table for the subscriberstation requesting a channel. With this index, frequency allocation candetermine the default modulation type of the requesting subscriber. Italso tells the routine where to put the results of its selectionalgorithms (i.e., the frequency and slot numbers).

The second input to the frequency allocation task indicates the categoryof the frequency-slot request. The value of the second input is eitheran index into the SIN table, or it is the previously defined illegalvalue DB NULL. If a valid index is received, the frequency allocationrequest is identified as the destination side of asubscriber-to-subscriber call and the selection tables should beutilized. If DB NULL is received, the request is considered to fall intothe external-source category and the “most available slot position”algorithm is utilized.

The frequency allocation task returns TRUE if a frequency-slotcombination is successfully allocated, otherwise it returns FALSE. Italso causes one desirable side effect. If allocation is successful, thebaseband index and slot fields of the SIN table are filled in for therequesting subscriber.

The frequency allocation algorithm can be broken down into two stages.The first stage, called the classification stage, determines thecategory of the allocation request. The second stage, called theselection stage, finds and allocates a frequency-slot combination usingthe appropriate algorithm as determined by the allocation requestcategory.

The classification stage first determines if an automatic frequencyselection is to occur. If the requesting subscriber has been put intomanual mode, the specified manual-modulation-level, manual-frequency andmanual-slot values specify the frequency-slot-modulation to beallocated. If the frequency-slot specified is available, they areassigned to the requesting subscriber. If the frequency-slot specifiedis not available, the routine exits returning a FALSE value. If therequesting subscriber has been put into automatic mode, furtherclassification is required.

After determining that an automatic selection is to occur, the frequencyallocation algorithm determines the request category. These requestcategories are as follows: “External-In” applies when a destinationsubscriber station is called from an external phone; “External-out”applies when an originating subscriber station calls an external phone;“Internal-out” applies when an originating subscriber station callsanother subscriber station; “Internal-in” applies when a destinationsubscriber station is called from another subscriber station. If therequest is an external-in, external-out or an internal-out, a slotposition is selected by searching for the most available position. Oncethe position is selected, all frequencies are sequentially searcheduntil a vacant slot (or adjacent slot pair in the case of 4ary request)of the desired position is found. At this point, the routine puts theappropriate values into the SIN table and exits, returning a value ofTRUE. If the request falls into the final category (internal-in),further information is required.

When an internal-in type request is made, two further bits ofinformation are required. The slot assignment and the modulation type(4-ary or 16-ary) of the originating subscriber must be extracted. Oncethis is accomplished, the appropriate selection table is determinedbased on the modulation type of the originating subscriber and thedestination subscriber. After the has been selected, the slot assignmentof the originating subscriber is used to determine the appropriate rowof the selection table use. Each sequential element of the selected rowcontains an equally or less desirable slot assignment. This list istraversed until an available slot is found, beginning with the mostdesirable position and continuing until all slot positions have beenexhausted. For each slot position (or slot pair for 4-ary connections),each frequency is sequentially searched until the actual slot (or slotpair) is found. The derived frequency and slot values are not enteredinto the appropriate SIN table entries, and the routine exists,returning a value of TRUE.

A “slot count” array keeps track of the number of available slots foreach slot position. These counts are maintained by the database moduleand are referenced by the frequency allocation task.

The SIN table contains pertinent information on each of the subscribersrecognized by the system. The following accesses are made to the SINTable.

-   -   modulation-level (read): The modulation level of the subscriber        requesting a frequency is extracted from this table along with        the modulation level of the originating subscriber during        internal-call setup.    -   slot-number (read): The slot assignment of the originating        subscriber in an internal-call setup must be retrieved.    -   slot-number (write): The slot assignment of the subscriber        requesting a channel is put here.    -   baseband-index (write): The frequency assignment of the        subscriber requesting a channel is put here.

The BCC table is used by the frequency allocation routines search for anavailable frequency-slot combination. The following accesses are made tothe BCC table:

-   -   channel-state (read): The state of a channel is checked to        determine availability.    -   channel-status (read): The channel status is checked to verify        that the specified channel is a voice channel.    -   channel-state (write): The channel state is changed when the        specified channel is selected for allocation.    -   channel-control (write): The modulation type of the requesting        subscriber is written into the channel control byte.

SIN-index (write): Establishes a link from the selected channel to therequesting subscriber.

The frequency allocation routines directly access the database. This isnecessary due to speed and efficiency considerations. Whenever possible,the database interface routines are used to access the database from thefrequency allocation routines.

Subscriber Telephone Interface Unit (STU)

In its basic mode of operation the STU acts as an interface unit toconvert the 2-wire analog signal interfaced from a standard telephoneset to 64 Kbps PCM encoded digital samples. Referring to FIG. 12, theSTU includes a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) 53 whichconnects directly to a type-500 touch-tone phone set via lines 37. TheSLIC 53 provides proper voltage and impedance characteristics for phoneoperation. In addition, the SLIC 53 allows a “ring” current to beapplied to the phone set and also performs “on-hook/off-hook” detection.The signal outputs of the SLIC 53 on line 54 are analog voice-frequency(VF) transmit and receive signals. These are subsequently converted toPCM samples by a PCM codec 55. The PCM codec 55 uses the .mu.−255companding algorithm to digitize the voice signals into 8-bit samples atan 8 KHz rate. The PCM codec 55 is full-duplex in nature. The digitizedvoice samples are then fed over line 56 to a “mode select” multiplexer(MUX) 57. The mode of operation the MUX is determined by the subscribercontroller unit SCU 58 which interfaces with the MUX 57 by a transmitand receive FIFO 59. The SCU 58 essentially includes a Model 803microcontroller. The SCU is coupled to the CCU 29. Through an RS-232interface circuit 60 and further controls the operation of the SLIC 53.

The STU can essentially operate in one of three distinct modes. Thefirst, the most basic, mode is the voice mode. In this mode, voicesamples from the PCM codec 55 are transferred through the mode selectMUX 57 and a VCU driver/receiver circuit 61 to the VCU 28, where theyare further processed to reduce the bit rate from 64 Kbps to 14.6 Kbpsand then sent on for transmission to the base station.

The second mode of operation is the data mode. In this mode the 64 Kbpsstream to/from the VCU 28 does not involve voice information; rather,the information conveyed to the base station is a reformatted datastream from an external data source at a rate of up to the 14.6 Kbpschannel data transmission rate. The STU also includes a RS-232 data port62 to allow the connection of a data device (e.g., terminal) via a line63 using a standard asynchronous RS-232 interface operating up to 9600baud. The STU includes an UART and timer circuit 64 to synchronize thedata from the RS-232 data port 62. The VCU 28 packetizes thesynchronized data so that it will pass through the 14.6 Kbps limitationof the channel. Full-duplex data transmission is supported in this mode.

The third STU mode is the call setup mode. In this mode, no data isconveyed from the STU 27 to the VCU 28 through the mode select MUX 57.However, a ringback tone generator circuit 65 is connected to the modeselect MUX 57. This circuit digitally synthesizes the tones used in callplacement procedures, such as busy and error tones. During callplacement, DTMF digits dialed by the user are detected by a DTMFdetector circuit 66 and processed by the SCU 58 to place the call. Theringback tone generator circuit 65 returns appropriate tones to theuser's head set. A ring generator 67 is connected to the SLIC 53. Atiming generator 68 provides timing signals to the PCM codec 55, the VCUdriver receiver circuit 61 and the ringback tone generator 65. Once thecall placement is complete, the STU will switch to either the voice modeor the data mode for communications with the base station.

An additional requirement of the STU is to provide for cancellation ofundesired echo signals from the remote connections. The delay of theround trip for the voice signals between base station and the subscriberstation will be well over 100 msec. Any reflected signal due toimpedance mismatch at either end will result in an obnoxious echoreturn. This problem is handled in the base station by an echocancellation system in the PBX function. The STU must provide the echocancellation in the subscriber station. At least 40 dB of echoattenuation is expected to be required from this cancellation. The delayof the echo to be cancelled is very small, however, since thereflection-of-interest is between the SLIC 53 in the STU and the localphone set itself. The distance will typically be only a few tens of feetand the delay is essentially zero.

The 8031 micropro controller in the SCU 58 performs the functions of theRPU 20 and PBX call processor 24 in the base station. It communicates tothe base station RPU 20 via messages sent on the radio control channel(RCC) and controls all the individual functions of the STU 27. The SCTUalso communicates to the subscriber station CCU 29 via the basebandcontrol channel (BCC). The RS-232 interface to the CCU 29 operates at9600 baud and is used to convey control information between the CCU 20and STU 27 in the subscriber station.

Voice Codec Unit (VCU)

The voice codec unit (VCU) implements four full-duplex RELP voicecompression systems. The VCU design is identical for the base stationand the subscriber stations. In the subscriber station only one-fourthof the overall functionality is used (that is, only one of the fourchannels). The interface to the STU 27 in the subscriber station isidentical to the interface used by each of the four PBX channels in thebase station VCU 17 interface. The VCU 17, 28 uses an entirely digitalscheme to implement the RELP voice algorithm, as described in co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 667,446 entitled “RELP VocoderImplemented in Digital Signal Processors”, filed Nov. 2, 1984 by PhilipJ. Wilson, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.Alternatively, a sub-band codec may be used. The processed data isprovided to the CCU 18, 29 on a common parallel bus interface which iscontrolled by the CCU software. The CCU 18, 29 sends the VCU 17, 28control signals to determine the mode of operation and configuration inthe VCU 18, 29. The modes of operation, functional description andimplementation considerations associated with the VCU 17, 28 aredescribed below.

The interfaces between the PBX 15 and the VCU 17 are shown in FIG. 13.The interfaces between the STU 27 and the VCU 28 are shown in FIG. 14.The STU 27 interfaces are a subset of the PBX 15 interfaces in that theSTU 27 provides only one full duplex voice channel operation. The timingrelationships for the PBX and STU interfaces are identical and are shownin FIG. 15. Table 10 describes the characteristics represented by thesymbols used in FIG. 15. TABLE 10 Symbol Parameter Min Typ Max Unit tw0PBX frame width — 125 — .mu.s tw1 clock pulse width 1.8 2.0 2.2 .mu.stw2 gate 0 inactive width — 93.75 — .mu.s tw3 gate 0 inactive - 5.9 7.89.7 .mu.s gate 1 width tw4 gate 1 inactive - 52.8 54.7 56.6 .mu.s gate 0width td0 start pulse - clock 0 250 −800 ns 0 delay td1 start pulse -clock 0 250 −800 ns 1 delay td2 clock 0 - gate 0 100 1000 2000 ns edgedelay td3 clock 1 - gate 1 100 1000 2000 ns edge delay ts0 input datasetup time 20 1500 — ns ts1 output data setup time 500 1800 — ns th0output data hold time 500 2200 — ns

Referring to FIG. 13, the PBX SDAT0, 1, 2 and 3 lines 70, 71, 72, 73carry data signals from the PBX 15 to the VCU 17 in the base station. Inthe subscriber station the data signal is carried on the STU SDAT0 line74 from the STU 27 to the VCU 28 (FIG. 14). 8-bit .mu.−255 compandedserial data is sent to the voice codec during the active portion of thePBX/STU GATE0 or PBX GATE1 . . . 3 at a clock rate of 256 KHz. Data isclocked into the VCU 17, 28 on the rising edge of the 256 KHz clock.

The VCU SDAT0 1, 2 and 3 lines 75, 76, 77, 78 carry data signals fromthe VCU to the PBX 15 in the base station. The VCU SDATO line 29 carriesdata from the VCU 28 to the STU 27 in the subscriber station. 8-bit.mu.−255 companded serial data is sent to the PBX 15 or STU 27 from thevoice codec during the active high portion of PBX/STU GATE0 or PBX GATE1. . . 3 at a 256 KHz clock rate. Data is clocked out of the VCU 17, 28on the rising edge of the 256 KHz clock.

The PBX GATE0, 1, 2 and 3 lines 80, 81, 82, 83, carry gate signals fromthe PBX 15 to the VCU 17 in the base station. The STU GATE0 line 84carries a gate signal from the STU 27 to the VCU 28 in the subscriberstation. The gate signal is an active high signal used to enabletransfer of PBX/STU SDAT0, PBX SDAT1 . . . 3 and VCU SDAT0 . . . 3. Thisgate signal is active for eight consecutive clock periods every 125microsecond. The PBX CLK0, 1, 2 and 3 lines 85, 86, 87, 88 carry 256 KHzclock signals form the PBX 15 to the VCU 17 in the base station. The STUCLK0 line 89 carries a 256 KHz clock signal from the STU 27 to the VCU28 in the subscriber station. A 256 KHz clock signal is used to clockthe PBX/STU SDAT0 and PBX SDAT1 . . . 3 signals into the VCU 17,28 andthe VCU SDAT0 . . . 3 signal into the PBX 15 or STU 27. However, theclocks are not synchronized with any clocks generated within the VCU17,18, CCU 18, 29 or modem 19, 30.

In the base station, the PBX-VCU interface converts four channels ofsynchronous 64 Kbps serial data into 8-bit parallel data, which is thenmade available to the four transmit voice codecs 16 at an 8 KHz samplingrate. In the subscriber station, only one channel (channel 0) isconverted by the STU-VCU interface. The necessary clocks and gates areprovided by the PBX 15 and the STU 27.

The PBX-VCU and STU-VCU interfaces also perform the complementaryfunction for the receive voice codecs. In the base station, 8-bitparallel data, received from the four codec channels, is converted intofour 64 Kbps synchronous serial channels for transmission back to thePBX 15. In the subscriber station, one voice channel is converted andsent back to the STU 27.

The hardware interfaces between the VCU 17, 28 and the CCU 18,29 areshown in FIG. 16. The timing relationships for the transmit and receivechannels between the VCU and the CCU are shown in FIGS. 17 and 18respectfully. Tables 11 and 12 describe the characteristics representedby the symbols used in FIGS. 17 and 18 respectively.

Note that FIGS. 17 and 18 detail the events that occur during the VCBTPshown in FIGS. 19A and 19B. The individual interface signal definitionsare given in the following paragraphs. TABLE 11 Symbol CharacteristicMin Max Unit td1 voice codec block transfer period — 750 .mu.sec td2TCVC response time 1.25 15 .mu.sec td3 CCU DMA response time 1.25.mu.sec td4 handshake delay 15 nsec td5 VC block period delay 150.mu.sec th1 control data hold nsec th2 status data hold nsec th3 TC datahole nsec ts1 control data setup nsec ts2 status data setup nsec ts3 TCdata setup nsec tw1 write width nsec tw2 read width nsec tw3 blockrequest width 1.5 .mu.sec

TABLE 12 Symbol Characteristic Min Max Unit td6 block transfer period750 .mu.sec td7 CCU data response time 1.25 .mu.sec td8 VC response time1.25 15 .mu.sec td9 handshake delay 15 nsec td10 VC block period delay150 .mu.sec th4 control data hold nsec th5 status data hold nsec th6 RCdata hold nsec ts4 control data setup nsec ts5 status data setup nsects6 TC data setup nsec tw4 write width nsec tw4 read width nsec tw6block request width 1.5 .mu.sec

FIGS. 19A and 19B show the timing relationships between the varioustransmit and receive speech blocks that are transferred between the VCU17, 18 and CCU 18, 19 for 16-level phase shift keying (PSK) modulation.At the top of the FIG. 19A is the system frame timing to which alltransfers are referenced. This frame timing is also applicable to FIG.19B. One modem frame is 45 msec in length and includes of four voiceslots (or channels). Each voice slot consists of two system voice blockperiods (SVBP) of speech data each containing 82 symbols (requiring5.125 msec) and an additional 16 overhead data symbols requiring 1.0msec of frame time.

For the transmit channels, one block of 328 bits (41 bytes) of processedspeech is transferred from the VCU 17, 28 to the CCU 18, 29 prior to thebeginning of each SVBP during a voice codec block transfer period(VCBTP). The VCU's 64 Kbps input data stream, which is associated with aprocessed speech block, is shown to be partitioned into voice coderblock periods (VCBPs) that are 22.5 msec in length. Referring totransmit channel 0 in FIG. 19A, unprocessed VC input data in VCBPs OA1and OB1 is associated with processed data in VCBTPs OA1 and OB1. Alsonote that the VCBPs for channels 0 and 2 are staggered by one-half of aVCBP (i.e., 11.25 msec) from the VCBPs for channels 1 and 3.

For the receive channels (as shown in FIG. 19B), one block of 328 bits(41 bytes) of processed speech is transferred from the CCU 18, 29 to theVCU 17, 28 at the end of each SVBP during a VCBTP. As in the transmitchannels, the time skew of the VCBP to the VCBTP is implementationdependent and a (maximum) offset of one VCBP is shown in FIG. 19B. Tounderstand the relationship of voice codec's input and output data,refer to FIGS. 19A and 19B. For receive channel 0, compressed speechdata transferred during VCBTPs OA10 and OB10 is associated with theprocessed expanded data stream in VCBPS OA10 and OB10.

The TCADDR lines 90 carry transmit channel address signals from the CCU18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28. These three address lines are used to selectthe current transmit channel address.

The TCDATA bus 91 carries transmit channel data signals between the VCU17, 28 and the CCU 18, 29.

The TCDAV line 92 carries a transmit channel data available signal fromthe VCU 17, 28 to the CCU 18, 29. The TCDAV/signal indicates to the CCUI18, 29 that a data byte is available in the TCDATA register. The TCDAVsignal remains low until a TCDACK signal is activated.

The TCDACK line 93 carries a transmit channel data acknowledgment signalfrom the CCU 18,29 to VCU 17,28. The TCDACK/signal gates the data ontothe TCDATA bus and resets the TCDAV/.

The TCSCWR line 94 carries a transmit signal status/control write signalfrom the CCU 18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28. The TCSCWR signal writes thevoice codec control word into the appropriate transmit channel controlregister determined by the TCADDR lines. Data is latched into theregister on the rising edge of the TCSCWR signal.

The TCSCRD line 95 carries a transmit signal status/control read signalfrom the CCU 18,29 to the VCU 17,28. The TCSCRD signal gates the statusbyte onto the TCDATA bus from the voice codec status register designatedby the TCADDR lines.

The BLOCKRQ line 96 carries a block request signal from the CCU 18,29 tothe VCU 17, 28. The BLOCKRQ signal is used to initiate a 41 byte blocktransfer of data from the voice codec (specified by the TCADDR lines) tothe CCU 18, 29 over the TCDATA bus. BLOCKRQ is used by the voice codecfor start of VCBP timing.

The TCVCRST line 97 carries a transmit channel voice codec reset signalfrom the CCU 18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28. The transmit voice codecspecified by the TCADDR lines is reset.

The RCADDR lines 98 carry receive channel address signals from the CCU18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28. These address lines are used to select thecurrent receive channel address as follows.

The RCDATA bus 98 carries receive channel data signals between the CCU18, 29 and the VCU 17, 28.

The RCDAV line 100 carries a receive channel data available signal fromthe CCU 18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28, The RCDAV signal indicates to thevoice codec specified by the RCADDR lines that a data byte is availablein the RCDATA register. The RCDAV signal gates the data onto the RCDATAbus and into the RCDATA register, and resets the RCDACK line.

The RCDACK line 101 carries a receive channel data acknowledge signalfrom the VCU 17, 28 to the CCU 18, 29. The RCDACK signal indicates tothe CCU 18, 29 that the data has been read from the RCDATA register andthat another byte may be transferred from the CCU 18, 29.

The RCSCWR line 102 carries a receive channel status/control writesignal from the CCU 18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28. The RCSCWR signal writesthe control word into the appropriate voice codec control registerdetermined by the RCADDR lines. Data is latched into the register on therising edge of RCSCWR signal.

The RCSCRD line 103 carries a channel status/control read signal fromthe VCU 17, 28 to the CCU 18, 29. The RCSCRD signal gates the voicecodec status word onto the RCDATA bus from the status registerdesignated by the RCADDR lines.

The BLOCKRDY line 104 carries a block ready signal from the CCU 18, 29to the VCU 17, 28. The BLOCKRDY signal is used to initiate a 41 byteblock transfer of data from the CCU 18, 29 to the voice codec specifiedby the RCADDR lines. The BLOCKRDY signal is used by the voice codec forstart VCBP timing. The CCU 18, 29 is required to have a data byteavailable in the RCDATA register prior to the rising edge of theBLOCKRDY signal.

The RCVCRST line 105 carries a receive channel voice codec reset signalfrom the CCU 18, 29 to the VCU 17, 28. The voice code specified by theRCADDR lines is reset by the RCVCRST signals.

The receive channel VCU hardware receives 41 byte blocks of input datafrom the CCU 18, 29 during a VCBTP as shown in FIG. 20A. Afterprocessing the data according to the current mode of operation, the8-bit .mu.-law companded data is transferred at an 8 KHz rate to the PBX(STU) interface module. Data buffering is performed within the VCU 17,28to simplify the input/output requirements of the CCU 18, 29. Controlinformation is passed between the VCU 17, 28 and the CCU 18, 29 via aset of control and status ports for each receive channel at thebeginning of a VCBTP as shown in FIG. 18. The following operating modesare supported by the receive codecs:

In the external mode, speech bandwidth expansion is performed with aninput data rate of 14.6 Kbps (328 bits every 22.5 msec), and an outputdata rate of 64 Kbps. Speech data may also include DTMF tones.

In the internal mode, previously compressed 14.6 Kbps speech is passedfrom the CCU 18, 29 through the VCU 17, 28 to the PBX 15 or the STU 27.Since the PBX 15 or the STU 27 expects 64 Kbps data, padding of the datastream must occur. Output (64 Kbps) data consists of an idle byte (FFhex) pattern until speech data becomes available from the CCU 18, 29. Async byte (55 hex) is then output, followed by the 41 previouslyprocessed data bytes, after which the idle byte pattern is continued.FIG. 20A provides an example of the input and output data timing andcontent for 16 PSK modulation.

In the silence mode, input blocks of speech data from the CCU 18, 29 areconsumed but not used. An output idle byte pattern (FF hex) to the PBX15 or the STU 27 is maintained to ensure line silence.

In the standby mode, continuous hardware diagnostic routines areexecuted and the resulting status stored in the status register. Blocktransfers to the CCU 18, 29 will not occur until the operating mode ischanged by a block request corresponding to VCBTPA. The new control word(and operating mode) is read by the voice codec and the diagnosticstatus information is passed to the CCU 18, 29.

The transmit channel VCU hardware receives 8-bit .mu.-law companded PCM(at 8 KHz sampling rate) from the PBX/STU interface. Mter processing thedata according to the current mode of operation, the output data istransferred to the CCU 18, 29 in blocks of 41 bytes during a voice codecblock transfer period (VCBTP) as shown in FIG. 19A. Data buffering isperformed within the VCU 17, 28 to simplify the input/outputrequirements of the CCU 18, 29. Control information is passed betweenthe VCU 17, 28 and the CCU 18, 29 via a set of control and status portsfor each transmit channel at the beginning of a VCBTP as shown in FIG.17. The following operating modes are supported by the transmit codecs:

In the external mode, speech bandwidth compression is performed with anoutput data rate of 14.6 Kbps. (328 bits every 22.5 msec.) Processedspeech data is transferred in 41 byte blocks to the CCU 18, 29. Speechdata may also include Dual-Tone-Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones.

In the internal mode, previously processed speech data is passed fromthe PBX 15 or the STU 27 through the VCU 17, 28 and into the CCU 18, 29.The 64 Kbps input data stream consists of an idle byte patter (FF hex),one sync byte (55 hex), 41 previously processed compressed speech databytes, and additional idle bytes until the next sync byte occurs. Thevoice codec monitors the input data for the sync byte, which occurs on abyte boundary, then buffers the 41 bytes of speech data. The speechblock is then transferred to the CCU 18,29 during the next VCBTP asdescribed above. FIG. 20B provides an example of the input and outputdata timing and content for 16-PSK modulation. Segment 1 on the outputchannel is a sync byte; and 2 is a processed speech byte. Thecross-hatched segment represents an idle byte pattern. Note that thesync and speech data bytes will not occur across VCBP boundaries.

In the silence mode, input speech data from the PBX 15 or the STU 27 isconsumed but not used. The 41 bytes of output speech data to the CCUcontains a silent voice pattern.

In the standby mode, continuous hardware diagnostic routines areexecuted and the resulting status stored in the status register. Blocktransfers to the CCU 18, 29 will not occur until the operating mode ischanged by a block request corresponding to VCBTPA. The new control word(and operating mode) is read the VCU 17, 28 and the diagnostic statusinformation is passed to the CCU 18, 29.

A codec frame is defined according to the implementation requirements ofthe RELP algorithm, but the frame must be an integer sub-multiple of thevoice coded block period (VCBP), which is 22.5 msec.

Due to the fact that the PBX 15 and STU 27 operate asynchronously frominternal system timing, a means of detecting, reporting and compensatingfor data overruns and underarms must be incorporated into the VCU 17,28. This condition occurs approximately once in every 5,000 VCBPs. Whiledetection of over/underruns is implementation dependent, reporting sucherrors is provided for in the status word. Data underflows can becompensated for by repeating the last speech sample as required, andoverflows can be handled by disregarding speech sample(s) as required.

After a reset of any one (or all) codecs, VCBTPA will be the first blocktransferred from the CCU 18, 29, as shown in FIG. 19A, for example.

Control Channel Unit (CCU)

The channel controller unit (CCU) performs similar functions in both thesubscriber stations and the base station. The hardware used in the twostation types for the CCU function is, in fact, identical. The softwarein the subscriber station differs slightly from that in the basestation. The CCU performs many functions pertaining to the informationformatting and timing associated with operation on the time-divisiontransmission channels. Basic inputs to the CCU come from four sources.First, there is the actual digitized samples which are to betransmitted. These are transferred to the CCU 18, 20 from the VCU 17,29. (FIGS. 2 and 3.) This data may be encoded voice samples or datasamples from the RS-232 data port 10 in the STU. (FIG. 12.) In any case,the digital channels operate at 16 Kbps. Four channels may be processedconcurrently by the CCU 18 when operating in the base station with allfour 16-level PSK transmission channels operating. The subscriberstation CCU 29 operates on only one stream, but that stream may belocated in any of the four slot positions associated with the TDMAframing scheme. The second input to the CCU comes via the basebandcontrol channel (BCC) from the STU 27 (in the subscriber station) or theRPU 20 (in the base station). This second input provides controlmessages pertaining to modes of operation, status and controlinformation. Many of the BCC messages from the CCU 18,20 are radiocontrol channel (RCC) messages which have been received by the CCU 18,29. The CCU 28, 29 forwards the control information from the RCCmessages to the STU 27 or the RPU 20 and, in response, receives controlmessages from the RPU 20 or the STU 27. This determines what the CCU18,20 is to do with the data from the VCU 17, 28. The third input sourceprovides timing and status information from the modem 19, 30 a. Themodem 19 provides the master clock signal used in the VCU-CCU-modemchain. In addition, the modem 19, 30 a provides status on the accuracyof its bit-tracking synchronization, RF AGC level settings and other“goodness” indicators which are used by the CCU 18, 29 to determine ifadequately reliable communications are occurring over the channel. TheCCU 18, 29 attempts to control the “fine-tuning” of the instantaneousmodem 19, 30 a operation through commands to vary the transmit powerlevels, the AGC levels and the timing/ranging computation. Quality levelmeasurements of modem transmissions are reported to the RPU 20 or theSTU 27. The fourth input source is the actual modem data received assymbols of up to four bits each (depending on the modulation levels).These symbols are buffered, demultiplexed and output to the VCU 17, 28receive circuits for decoding.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of the CCU. The architecture of the CCU isessentially that of two one-way direct memory access (DMA) data channelswith an intelligent microprocessor controller. The function of the DMAchannels is to transfer data from the VCU to the modem and vice versa.The CCU interface to the VCU includes two parallel DMA buses, a TX bus107 for the transmit channel (VCU to CCU to modem) and a RX bus 108 forthe receive channel (modem to CCU to VCU). Data processed by thetransmit circuits in the VCU is buffered in the VCU memory until the CCUrequests a DMA transfer. Forty-one bytes are transferred to the CCUduring each block transfer period. Two of these blocks are transmittedper active voice channel (up to four voice channels in the base station)per TDMA frame. The CCU receives these transmit bytes via a transmitvoice codec interface module (TVCIM) 109 and buffers them in a transmitmemory module (TMM) 110. Depending on the specific mode of operation forthe given channel, a CCU processor embodied in a microcontroller module(MCM) 111 appends a control/sync header to the coded voice bytes,thereby formatting a complete voice packet for transmission to the modemvia a transmit modem interface module 112. The MCM 111 maintains frametiming information and transfers the data to the modem at the propertime. Before being transferred to the modem the transmit data isconverted by the MCM 111 from the eight-bit byte format used by the CCUto a symbol format containing 1, 2 or 4 bits per symbol, depending onthe modulation levels for that slot.

The reverse process is performed for the receive data from the modem.Data from the modem is received by a receive modem interface module(RMIM) 114 and buffered in a receive memory module (RMM) 115. This datais then converted from the 1, 2 or 4-bit-per-symbol format used by themodem to the eight-bit byte format used internally by the CCU and allother baseband processing. The overhead and control bits are strippedfrom the incoming data stream on the RX bus 108 by the MCM 111 accordingto its knowledge of the frame timing, which is provided by the modem toa frame timing module (FTM) 116 and its own identification of variouscode words in the symbol stream. The converted data is provided to theVCU via a receive voice codec interface module (RVCIM) 117.

The CCU also provides the link-level control of the radio controlchannel (RCC) transmissions at both the base and subscriber stations. Inthe base station only one CCU is configured, by the RPU, as processingthe RCC channel. The CCU controls the reception and formatting ofmessages from the RPU in the base station to the STU controller in thesubscriber stations. This control function of the CCU involves detectionand error control in the RCC messages as well as the formatting andpacketizing of the RCC information for transmission across the radiolink. The CCU also detects collisions on the incoming RCC at the basestation. The CCU controls the power and ranging computations forsubscriber stations performing initial acquisition efforts. The protocolfor acquisition and other RCC functions have been described above.

FIG. 22 shows the software-implemented functional architecture of theCCU. The CCU has three separate data paths: the transmit bus TX 107, thereceive bus RX 108 and the microcontroller local bus 119. Themicrocontroller 111 shares the TX bus 107 with a memory access (DMA)controller 120 and shows the RX bus 108 with a director DMA controller121. The microcontroller 111 uses these remote buses to control the DMAcontroller peripherals, the control/status registers 122 and to accessboth the transmit buffer memory 110 and the receive buffer memory 115.The control and status registers 122 off of the microcontroller localbus 119 provide interfaces to the RFU, the modem and the CCU hardware.An RS-232C link 123 between the RPU and the CCU is supported by a UARTon the microcontroller chip 111. In the subscriber station, the RPU isreplaces by the STU, but the interface remains the same.

The microcontroller 111 has access to three physically separate RAMareas: local RAM, the transmit buffer and the receive buffer. Local RAMcan further be broken down into on-chip RAM and off-chip RAM. Thetransmit buffer and the receive buffer can only be accessed by themicrocontroller when the respective DMA controller is idle.

The transmit buffer 110 is divided into a number of distinct segments.Each segment contains the skeleton of a voice or RCC packet, ready fortransmission over the channel. The preamble and unique word (RCC only)are constants initialized by the microcontroller 111 after a CCU reset.The code word (voice only), voice data and RCC data are written into thetransmit buffer 110 by the microcontroller just prior to the DMAtransfer to the modem 19, 30 a. Since the RCC “null ACK” is a fixedmessage sent with a high frequency, it is stored as a separate entity inthe transit buffer 110.

The receive buffer 115 is divided into a number of distinct segments.One segment is for the storage of voice data, which is buffered andtransferred on a VCU block basis. RCC data is buffered separately fromvoice data to allow its retention over a longer period of time. Ifnecessary, the microcontroller 111 can maintain a two frame RCC historyin the receiver buffer 115, making the RCC copy task (from buffer tolocal RAM) less of a time critical event.

The local RAM contains the working variables used by the microcontroller111. One important data structure stored there supports the basebandcontrol channel (BCC) between the CCU and the RPU. One register bank ofthe local RAM is assigned to provide basic queue information to theRS232C interrupt handler. A pointer and length field in this bankdefines the active transmit data block (TXDB), from which data is readand transmitted. The TXDB contains length and pointer information to thenext TXDB in the queue; hence forming a linked list. On the receiveside, a circular buffer is used to store incoming data bytes. When acomplete message is received, the interrupt handler flags the serialcode to interpret it.

The microcontroller 111 uses its local bus 119 to access the modem, RFUand CCU control/status registers 122. The bus also provides access,through isolation logic circuits 124 and 125 to the TX bus 107 and theRX bus 108 respectively. To avoid contention, the remote buses 107, 108are only accessed by the microcontroller 111 when the respective DMAcontroller 120 or 121 is idle.

The CCU and RPU communicate via link 123 through a full duplex RS-232Cinterface, called the baseband control channel (BCC). Asynchronouscharacters are eight-bit binary and are transmitted at 9600 baud. Onestart bit and one stop bit are used for data byte framing. Messages areterminated by a unique byte with byte stuffing employed to avoid havingthe unique byte occur within a message. An alternating bit protocol andan eight bit checksum are used to ensure link integrity.

Two external interrupts are supported by the microcontroller. One isgenerated by the transmit DMA controller 120 and the other is generatedby the receive DMA controller 121. These interrupts occur when therespective controller 120, 121 completes its block transfer; hence,releasing control of its bus to the microcontroller 111.

The BCC interface is driven by an internal interrupt. The software isinterrupted upon receipt or transmission of a byte.

At the base station, the CCU microcontroller 111 is responsible forcontrolling and monitoring the entire four channel data path assigned toit, which includes the VCU 17, 28, the CCU 18, 29, the modem 19, 30 aand the RFU 20, 31 a. At the subscriber station, the microcontroller 111controls and monitors the same hardware, but supports only one datapath. The CPU, in turn, is controlled by the RPU (in the base station)or the STU (in the subscriber station).

The CCU provides the VCU with mode of operation information. Modechanges occur only on system slot boundaries. During speech compressionoperation, the CCU also provides the VCU with information as to theposition of the VCU block within the system slot (there are two VCUblocks per system slot). VCU addressing is established by the CCU priorto a data transfer, which accomplishes the MUX/DEMUX task. VCU status isread by the CCU after each block transfer and appropriate statistics aremaintained by the CCU. The CCU can also initiate a VCU hard reset and/ora VCU.

The microcontroller 111 provides the current modulation level to asymbol-to-byte converter 126 on the RX bus 108 and a byte-to-symbolconverter 127 on the TX bus 107.

The modem is provided with information concerning the type of data beingreceived, RCC or voice, due to the different acquisition procedures usedin their reception. The modem provides the CCU with a fractional clockoffset, AGC level and link quality value every slot. The CCU frequencyassignment is provided by the RPU or STU. The CCU controls theinitiation of a modem hard reset, self test or receive side trainingmode.

The CCU handles full duplex data flow via the transmit and receive buses107, 108. During a given slot time, transmit voice data originating atthe VCU is block transferred to the transmit buffer 110 via the transmitDMA controller 121. Each block is one VCU block in length; hence, twosuch transfers are required for each voice channel. The CCU provides theVCU with the appropriate channel address prior to the transfer, thuseffecting the multiplexing operation.

A preamble and code word, stored in the transmit buffer 110, is sent outahead of the VCU data at the beginning of each slot. The transmit DMAtransfers data from the transmit buffer to the reclocking FIFO stock 129while the modem receives data from the FIFO stock 128 as required. Byteto symbol conversion is accomplished by the byte-to-symbol converter 127during the transfer. Control of the transmit DMA peripheral is handledby the microcontroller, along with the creation and insertion of thevoice packet code word.

Receive data flow is verbs much a mirror image of the transmit side.Data is written into the reclocking FIFO stack 129 as it appears fromthe modem 19, 30 a. The receive DMA controller 121 empties the FIFOstack 129 into the receive buffer 115 as required. Symbol-to-byteconversion is accomplished by the symbol-to-byte converter 126 and frametiming is accomplished by the clock circuit 130. Byte boundary alignmentoccurs automatically once the channel is in sync. Once a complete VCUblock is received, it is DMA block transferred to the appropriate VCU.Control of the receive DMA controller is handled by the microcontroller111.

Code word detection is performed for every slot. The microcontroller 111performs this task by copying the code word byte into the local RAM andcomparing it to a list of valid code words. During each slot the modem19, 30 a provides a fractional symbol offset and an AGC value. These areread by the microcontroller 111 and interpreted appropriately. If poweror ranging problems exist, the subscriber station is informed of thisvia the transmit code word.

Transmit RCC data is synthesized in the transmit buffer 110 by the CCUaccording to the contents of the RCC message queue. If the RPU has sentan RCC message to the CCU, this message is formatted in the transmitbuffer 110. Otherwise the NULL KNOWLEDGE message, permanently stored inthe transmit buffer 110, is used. Once the RCC packet is ready, the RCCpreamble, unique word and RCC data is DMA transferred to the modem 19,30 a as it is needed. The CCU performs collision detection and sets theoutbound RCC collision detection bit accordingly.

The receive RCC data handler has two modes: “frame search” and“monitor”. In the frame search mode, the RCC channel is considered to beout of sync. Every incoming RCC message must be synchronized using aunique word detection algorithm. In the monitor mode, the RCC channel isin sync and the unique word search algorithm is not invoked. The basestation is always in the frame search mode since subscribers may burstin with bad timing at any time. At the subscriber station, the RCC datahandler is in the monitor mode unless the station has not acquired RCCsynchronization.

In the frame search mode, unique word (UW) detection is performed afterevery RCC slot. The microcontroller 111 performs this task by scanningfor the unique word in a window about the “nominal” unique wordlocation. Successful unique word detection provides the CCU with symboltiming information.

Receive RCC data is DMA transferred from the modem 19, 30 a to thereceive buffer 115. Once the transfer is complete, the RCC data iscopied into the local microcontroller RAM for processing. Receive RCCpackets are filtered by the CCU. An RCC packet is passed to the RPU onlyif the unique word is detected and the CRC is correct.

During RCC operation, the corresponding VCU channel is placed instandby. No data transfers occur between the VCU and the CCU during thischannel period, both on the transmit and receive data paths 107, 108.

The software executes on an Intel 8031 microcontroller 111. Programstorage is provided for by external EPROM on the microcontroller localbus. The software is required to respond to DMA service requests in realtime, maintaining up to a 64 Kbps data flow in both directions withoutloss of data. FIFO buffering by the stacks 128 and 129 on the modeminterface provides the required slack time for the microcontroller 111to perform the DMA block transfers and system control functions.

The software is divided into five separate modules: supervisor, datatransfer, BCC transceiver, BMM control and utility. Each module isdesigned to have only one entry and exit point, with the exception ofinterrupts and error conditions. A further exception to this is theutility module, which contains an assortment of utility routinesaccessed directly from the other modules. In general, inter-modulecommunication takes place through the use of global variables defined ina separate data segment.

The supervisor module includes an initialization function, maintainsoverall program control and performs basic self test functions.

The data transfer module supports the control of data transfer over theTX bus 107 and the RX bus 108 for both voice and RCC, performs sync worddetection for all modulation levels on both voice and RCC data, andsupports the CCU-RPU RS-232 communication link 122.

The BCC transceiver module performs BCC transceiver duties, handles theBCC queues, formats transmit BCC messages, processes receive BCC dataand moves RCC data in and out of the CCU via the BCC.

The BBM control module controls the RFU, modem, VCU and CCU hardware viaregisters, reads and interprets status information from these devices(e.g., modem AGC, link quality and symbol ambiguity), decodes embeddedcode words in the receive voice channel, formats the code word for thetransmit voice channel, maintains a real time software/hardware timerand performs online self tests.

The utility module performs miscellaneous utility routines accessed bythe other modules.

The CCU software is divided into four separate processes whichessentially operate concurrently. Three are the BCC data, TX DMA and RXDMA processes, which are interrupt driven and are invoked only when aspecific event demands attention. All three of the event drivenprocesses are located in the data transfer module. The remainingprocess, which is distributed among all of the modules, is a backgroundprocess which initializes, controls and monitors the other threeprocesses.

As BCC messages arrive from the RPU (or STU in the subscriber station),they are received and buffered by the BCC data process. Once a completemessage is received, the BCC data process notifies the backgroundprocess via a mailbox. The background process polls this mailbox duringits main loop; hence detecting any new messages. Messages areinterpreted by the background and relevant action is taken. Any reply iswritten into the transmit BCC message queue by the background processand the BCC data process is duly notified.

BCC messages can initiate a reconfiguration of the CCU data channels.The necessary control information is written to the modem 19, 30 a andthe VCU 17,28 at the appropriate times. The modem acts upon a newcontrol word on slot boundaries. The VCU expects mode changes to occuron the first VCU block transfer of a slot boundary. The backgroundprocess is responsible for seeing that the correct control timing ismaintained.

Status gathering is performed by the background, TX DMA process and theRX DMA process the latter two collect status words from the TX and RXsides of the VCU respectively. This is necessary because these statusregisters can only be accessed via the TX bus 107 and the RX bus 108,which are idle only for limited periods of time. The background processgathers status information directly from the modem 19, 30 a via thestation registers 122 on the local bus 119. Once collected, all statusinformation is collated by the background process and stored in specificstatus variables. Status requests received from the RPU are handled bythe background process, based on this status history.

Some status information, like the AGC value and fractional bit offset,may necessitate CCU action. Apart from being stored as states history,such data is used to correct subscriber power and ranging problems. Inthe case of RCC messages, power and range information is forwardeddirectly to the RPU as part of the RCC. The background process performsthis function by formatting a BCC message containing the RCC, AGC andranging data. Once the packet is ready it is placed in the transmit BCCqueue and the BCC data process is notified. For voice channels, thisstatus information is used to format code words which are embedded inoutbound voice packets. The background process performs this formattingfunction and controls the transmission of the code word via the voicechannel. All code words must be transmitted five frames in a row,providing 5:1 redundancy coding. The TX DMA process automaticallytransmits the code word selected by the background process.

The background process also maintains a software/hardware real timeclock. This is done by polling one of the 8031's timers and countingoverflows. The real time clock function provides a time base forsoftware timeouts and other time dependent events. The backgroundprocess checks to see that system timing is being maintained by pollingCCU hardware error indicators and checking that data transfer events areoccurring when they should in the system frame. System framinginformation is provided via the start of system frame status line and atimer connected to the 16 KHz clock 130. Data synchronization isperformed by the background process.

The BCC data process responds to RS-232 interrupts, which can occur forboth the transmit and receive directions of the port. The process simplyoutputs another byte on the transmit side or inputs another byte on theinput side. An end-of-message delimiters on the receive side causes theBCC data routine to notify the background process.

The TX DMA process and the RX DMA process handle the transmit andreceive DMA channels.

A step-by-step description of the data transfer function controlled bythe software is provided below. Events in the data transfer process aremarked by DMA controller interrupts. The interrupt occurs after the DMAcontroller has completed the assigned block transfer. Each walk-throughstarts at the beginning of a slot data transfer. It may help to look atFIGS. 23 and 24 while proceeding through this section. FIG. 23 is atiming diagram for transferring RCC and 16 PSK voice data on thetransmit bus of the CCU. FIG. 24 is a timing diagram for transferringRCC and 16 PSK data on the receive bus of the CCU. Tables 13 and 14describe the characteristics of the time symbols shown in FIGS. 23 and24 respectively. TABLE 13 Time Max Min Typ Symbol Operation (.mu.s)(.mu.s) (.mu.s) t.sub.S CCU DMA setup 150 — 100 t.sub.VCB VCU DMAtransfer 600 —  100* t.sub.RCC RCC transfer from CCU — — 900 t.sub.M0RCC tx modem block — 10350 10250  t.sub.M2 1st Rx modem block —  43004300* t.sub.M3 2nd Rx modem block —  4225 4825**Based on RELP VCU

TABLE 14 Time Max Min Typ Symbol Operation (.mu.s) (.mu.s) (.mu.s)t.sub.S CCU DMA setup 150 — 100 t.sub.VCB VCU DMA transfer 600 —  100*t.sub.M0 1st Tx modem block — 5225 5825* t.sub.M1 2nd Tx modem block —4225 4825* t.sub.M2 RCC Rx modem block — 5600 5800* t.sub.RCC RCCtransfer to CCU — — 900*Based on RELP VCU

Transmit Function—RCC

1. Receive “end of TX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals thatprocessing of the previous slot is complete and that processing of thenext slot can begin. The TX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Write out control channel and modulation switching        information. This information is required by the modem 19, 30        and the byte-to-symbol converter 127.    -   b. Format any pending RPU RCC message in the transmit buffer        110. Otherwise prepare and send the null acknowledgment message.    -   c. Initialize and enable DMA transfer from the transmit buffer        110 to the modem 19, 30 a pointing to the RCC preamble, unique        word and RCC data block.    -   d. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

Transmit Function—Voice

1. Receive “end of TX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals thatprocessing of the previous slot is complete and that processing of thenext slot can begin. The TX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Write out voice channel and modulation switching information        for next slot. This information is required by the modem 19, 30        a and the byte-to-symbol converter 127.    -   b. Select VCU port address and enable DMA transfer from VCU to        transmit buffer 110.    -   c. Write VCU control word.    -   d. Interrupt VCU to start transfer.    -   e. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

2. Receive “end of TX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that the VCUto transmit buffer transfer is complete. The TX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Read VCU status word.    -   b. Write code word to the transmit buffer 110.    -   c. Initialize and enable DMA transfer from the transmit buffer        110 to the modem 19, 30 a pointing to voice preamble, code word        and voice data block.    -   d. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

3. Receive “end of TX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that thefirst half slot transfer from the transmit buffer 110 to the modem 19,30 a is complete. The TX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Select VCU port address and enable DMA transfer from VCU to        transmit buffer.    -   b. Write VCU control word.    -   c. Interrupt VCU to start transfer.    -   d. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

4. Receive “end of TX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that theVCU-to-transmit buffer transfer is complete. The TX DMA process isinvoked.

-   -   a. Read VCU status word.    -   b. Initialize and enable the DMA controller 120 for transmit        buffer to modem transfer.    -   c. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

Receive Function—RCC

-   -   1. Receive “end of RX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that        processing of the previous slot is complete and that processing        of the next slot can begin. The RX DMA process is invoked.    -   a. Setup for BPSK modulation. This information is required by        the symbol to byte converter 126. The modem 19, 30 a will have        already received this information at this time.    -   b. Initialize and enable DMA transfer from the modem 19, 30 a to        the receive buffer 115 for the RCC message.    -   c. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.        AGC calculation and bit sync ambiguity processing should take        place at this time.

2. Receive “end of RX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that the RCCtransfer from the modem 19, 30 a to the receive buffer 115 is complete.The RX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Copy RCC into local RAM.    -   b. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.        Prepare to pass received RCC on to the RPU if unique word is        detected and the checksum is correct.

Receive Function—Voice

1. Receive “end of RX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals thatprocessing of the previous slot is complete and that processing of thenext slot can begin. The RX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Setup for voice data with correct modulation. This        information is required by the symbol-to-byte converter 126. The        modem will have already received this information at this time.    -   b. Initialize and enable DMA transfer from the modem 19, 30 a to        the receive buffer for the first half slot of voice data.    -   c. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.        AGC calculation, bit sync ambiguity and code word processing        should take place at this time.

2. Receive “end of RX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals the firsthalf slot transfer from the modem 19, 30 a to the receive buffer 115 iscomplete. The RX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Select VCU port address and enable DMA transfer from the        receive buffer 115 to the VCU. Interrupt VCU to start transfer.    -   b. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

3. Receive “end of RX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that thefirst half slot transfer from the receive buffer 115 to the VCU iscomplete. The RX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Initialize and enable the DMA controller 121 for        modem-to-receiver buffer transfer for second half slot.    -   b. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

4. Receive “end of RX DMA transfer” interrupt. This signals that thesecond half slot transfer from the modem 19, 30 a to the receive buffer115 is complete. The TX DMA process is invoked.

-   -   a. Select VCU port address and enable DMA transfer from the        receive buffer 115 to the VCU. Interrupt VCU start transfer.    -   b. Return from interrupt and proceed with background processing.

CCU Software Execution

Software program execution begins as a result of a hardware reset andthe flow starts in the supervisor module. The supervisor module takescare of any hardware and software initialization before entering a mainservice loop. The supervisor module performs some basic self testfunctions after a hardware reset and upon request from the RPU. The mainservice loop access the other modules in sequence. The supervisor moduledesign is such that tasks are subdivided into manageable time-slices,guaranteeing that the main service loop has a reasonable worst caseperiodicity. Tasks requiring a real time response are handled viainterrupt service routines.

Each interrupt service routine performs the minimum of processing tosatisfy the service request. This is done to preserve the serial natureof program execution as much as possible and to keep interrupt queuingto a minimum. Typically an interrupt service routine will transfer datato or from an interface and set a boolean to indicate that the actionhas been performed. Serially executed code, accessed from the mainservice loop, then proceeds to process that information as required.

The CCU microcontroller 111 is a data flow machine in that softwareevents are driven by the arrival and departure of data. Precise systemtiming provides the framework for this data flow; however, softwareevents are derived directly from the flow of data and not from systemframe markers. This approach allows the software to respond to “real”events (such as data I/O requests) rather than “artificial” events (suchas system timing markers). The software relies upon the hardware toconvert the former's asynchronous actions into events which aresynchronous with the system frame timing. For this to work, it isnecessary that the software guarantee to have things initialized andready before the system frame event occurs.

It is therefore apparent that, while the CCU software is not heavilyloaded, it is called upon to respond to events and complete certaintasks within a limited amount of time. This real time processing isinterrupt driven and hence requires considerable care in its design.There are four potentially conflicting real time events demanded on themicrocontroller: transmit DMA servicing, receive DMA servicing, transmitRS-232 servicing and receive RS-232 servicing. The RS-232 interruptshave the lowest priority since they occur at a maximum rate of one permillisecond. The software is designed so that the one millisecond timeconstraint is not violated. Response times for voice and RCC datahandling are more critical and a discussion of these follows.

The relative timing for the data transfers on the transmit bus andreceive bus are shown in FIGS. 23 and 24. The diagrams are drawnapproximately to scale and show a worst case timing scenario. The timemultiplexed nature of the transmit and receive buses is clearlyillustrated by the diagrams. The dark cross lines shown on the transmitand receive paths correspond to the microcontroller activity on therespective bus (t.sub.S, t.sub.RCC). During this time, the respectiveDMA controller 120, 121 is idle. The short periods of time between DMAcontroller setups (t.sub.VCB) corresponds to VCU block transfers. Duringthis time, the DMA controller is dedicated to the respective VCU. Forthe remainder of the time (t.sub.M0, t.sub.M1, t.sub.M2, t.sub.M3) theDMA controller 120, 121 is dedicated to serving the modem interface.

The reclocking FIFO stacks 128, 129 at the modem interface create theprimary timing constraint implicit in the timing diagrams. The FIFOstacks hold 16 symbols, providing one millisecond of buffering timebefore underflowing (TX) or overflowing (RX). During this millisecond,the CCU can use the transmit or receive buses 107, 108 to complete blocktransfers to and from the VCU or copy RCC data into local RAM.

Upon power-up, the CCU software performs an internal self test andplaces the VCU, modem and RFU into their default states. Themicrocontroller 111 monitors the system frame timing and begins toperform block transfers to allow the VCU to gain synchronization. Oncedata transfers are initiated, the microcontroller 111 uses the DMA endof block interrupt to retain system timing. This interrupt is directlytied to the data throughput of the CCU and hence the 16 KHz symbol clock130. The VCU retains system timing implicitly via DMA transfer requestsgenerated by the microcontroller 111 as a result of the end of blockinterrupt. The microcontroller 111 continues to monitor frame timing toensure that proper system operation is maintained.

At the subscriber station, system startup also entails radiosynchronization. This is performed by locating the RCC and derivingsystem timing from it. Once receive timing is established, themicrocontroller 111 to establish transmit timing with the base station.

The data transfer module supports the real time and background datatransfer events in the CCU. Data transfers are serviced for the transmitdata path, the receive data path, the transmit BCC and the receive BCC.All of these tasks are interrupt driven events requiring real timeresponse. The module also performs synchronization acquisition andmonitoring as a background task.

The transmit data path handler is invoked when the transmit DMAcontroller 120 requires service. This typically occurs following a DMAblock transfer, at which time the DMA peripheral invokes an end of blocktransfer interrupt. The interrupt is received on one of the two externalinterrupt lines of the Model 8031 microcontroller 111. The servicerequired by the interrupt depends on the type of data transfer, RCC orvoice, and the time of occurrence within the slot.

The transmit data path interrupt occurs at predictable times during eachslot period. The interrupt times and durations are shown on FIGS. 23 and24. At each occurrence, the microcontroller 111 is required toinitialize the DMA peripheral for the next block transfer. Thisoperation should be performed within 150 us from interrupt request tointerrupt completion. In the case of RCC data, the first service requestrequires the microcontroller 111 to format the RCC message in thetransmit buffer 110 prior to the DMA transfer. This operation must becompleted within 900 us. Since the operations on the transmit path areusually short and require fast response, the interrupt is given thehighest priority.

The only output from the transmit data path interrupt handler is the VCUstatus word collected after the VCU block transfer. This status word isanalyzed by software in the BBM control module.

The receive data path handler is invoked when the receive DMA controller121 requires service. This typically occurs following a DMA blocktransfer, at which time the DMA peripheral invokes an end of blocktransfer interrupt. The interrupt is received on one of the two externalinterrupt lines of the 8031 microcontroller 111. The service required bythe interrupt depends on the type of data transfer, RCC or voice, andthe time of occurrence within the slot.

The receive data path interrupt occurs at predictable times during eachslot period. The interrupt times and durations are shown in FIGS. 23 and24. At each occurrence, the microcontroller 111 is required toinitialize the DMA controller 121 for the next block transfer. Thisoperation should be performed within 150 microseconds from interruptrequest to interrupt completion, if DMA initialization is the only taskto be performed. In the case of RCC data, the last service requestrequires the microcontroller 111 to copy the RCC message from thereceive buffer 115 to the local RAM after the DMA transfer. Thisoperation must also be completed within 900 microseconds. Since transmitpath servicing can occur during this time, receive path interrupts havea lower priority than those of the transmit path. The receive data pathinterrupt handler makes the VCU status word available after each VCUblock transfer. This status word is analyzed by software in the BBMcontrol module. The handler also reads new RCC messages from thechannel, which are then interpreted in the BCC transceiver module.

The BCC receive module is implemented via the on-chip RS 232 UART. TheUART is capable of generating one internal interrupt, which is triggeredwhenever a byte is received or transmitted. The BCC handler polls astatus bit to determine which of the two cases caused the interrupt andproceeds to service the port accordingly. The baud rate generator isprogramed for a nominal rate of 9600 baud, resulting in a maximum of1920 interrupts per second. Each interrupt must be serviced within a 1ms period to avoid data loss. Since the typical interrupt frequency islow and the response time relatively long, BCC data transfer interruptshave a low priority.

The BCC data transfer handler uses pointers to queue and de-queue dataas it is received and transmitted respectively. Only link levelprocessing occurs here, including byte stuffing and end of messageinsertion. These actions are described in the system interfacespecification.

Very little data processing occurs in the BCC transceiver module. Itsmain task is to queue and de-queue data while handling the transmit,receive and BCC data paths. The data synchronization acquisition andmonitoring, described below, comprise the major processing functions ofthe BCC transceiver module.

Sync word detection implies a synchronization operation at the symbollevel. The term “sync word” is a generic, applying to both the uniqueword in the RCC and the code word in voice channels. The unique word(UW) is a fixed 8-bit pattern placed at the beginning of an RCC message.A code word (CW) is currently any one of 8 possible 8-bit patternsplaced at the beginning of a voice channel. In addition to theirsynchronization role, code words are used to indicate connection status,power adjustments and ranging adjustments.

The base CCU must exhaustively check for a valid RCC message in everyslot. It performs this task by scanning for the unique word in a window.+−0.3 symbols about the nominal UW location, based upon master systemtiming. The search algorithm starts with the nominal UW positions andshifts one symbol right and left until it (1) finds the UW pattern and(2) verifies a correct RCC checksum. The search terminates as soon as(1) and (2) are satisfied or all possibilities have been exhausted. Theshift information, RCC message and power information are sent to the RPUfollowing a successful search.

During every voice slot, the base station CCU checks the received voicedata for a valid code word. Only the nominal code word position ischecked since no active symbol synchronization is performed during voiceoperation. If no code word is detected for five consecutive frames thenthe channel is declared out of sync and the RPU is informed of thecondition. It is up to the RPU to take any appropriate action at thispoint. Sync is defined to be restored after three-out-of-fiveconsecutive frames have successful code word detection.

The subscriber CCU, when receiving RCC data, can be in one of two modes:“frame search” or “monitor”. The frame search mode is used to acquirereceive frame timing from the incoming RCC data and is invokedautomatically when receive RCC sync is lost. The monitor mode is enteredwhenever receive frame synchronization has been acquired.

When in the frame search mode, the subscriber CCU must exhaustivelycheck for a valid RCC message after every RCC slot. Like the base CCU,it performs this task by scanning for the unique word in a window .+−.3symbols about the nominal UW location, based upon timing derived frommodem AM hole detection. The search algorithm starts with the nominal UWposition and shifts one symbol right and left until it (1) finds the UWpattern and (2) verifies a correct RCC checksum. The search terminatesas soon as (1) and (2) are satisfied or all possibilities have beenexhausted. The shift information from a successful search is used toadjust the CCU generated receive framing markers. Acquisition terminateswhen (1) and (2) above are satisfied for three consecutive frames withthe UW in its nominal position. The STU is informed of framingacquisition when it occurs. RCC messages are not forwarded to the STUduring frame search mode.

When framing acquisition is accomplished, the subscriber station CCUenters the monitor mode. Only the nominal UW position is checked toavoid the possibility of false UW acquisitions. If no UW is detected forfive consecutive frames then the channel is declared out of sync andframe search mode is entered. The STU is informed of this out of synccondition. During the monitor mode, RCC messages that have a correctchecksum and SIN number are passed on to the STU.

During every voice slot, the subscriber station CCU checks the receivedvoice data for a correct code word. Only the nominal code word positionis checked since no active symbol synchronization is performed duringvoice operation. All possible code words are searched for in thisdirection of the channel. Code words can cause incremental changes inthe subscriber station's power and ranging values. Incremental rangechanges can actually result in the change of symbol as well asfractional ranging values. If no code word is detected for fiveconsecutive frames then the channel is declared out of sync and the STUis informed of the condition. Sync is defined to be restored afterthree-out-of-five consecutive frames have successful code worddetection.

Additional CCU Considerations

The transmit DMA transfer request between the transmit buffer 110 andthe modem 19, 30 a must be derived from the full bit of the FIFO stack128. This implies that the FIFO stack 128 will always be full when a DMAblock transfer is complete.

The receive DMA transfer request between the modem 19, 30 a and thereceive buffer 115 must be derived from the empty bit of the stack 129.This implies that the FIFO stack 129 will always be empty when a DMAblock transfer is complete.

The CCU controller software provides the gate to enable DMA transfers,but external control must provide the handshaking to initiate andmaintain the block transfer. This is particularly important for themodem interface where frame timing is critical.

The microcontroller 111 should have the capability to put a DMA transferon hold. The software will not attempt to use the DMA bus during a blocktransfer unless this control is exerted or the DMA peripheral is idle.

The reclocking FIFO stacks 128, 129 should be automatically cleared(reset) periodically.

Frame timing information must be available to the microcontroller 111.This could take the form of a symbol clock input to an internal timer ofthe microcontroller.

When an RCC or voice packet is received by the CCU in sync, no symbolshifting should be required to bring the packet onto a byte boundary.This should apply regardless of modulation level.

Modem

The modem operates in one of three operation modes. In the base station,the modem carries on a full-duplex transmit and receive function. Whenoperating in the subscriber station, the modem operates in a half-duplexmode, transmitting during part of the TDMA frame and receiving duringanother part of the TDMA frame. The third mode is a self-adaptingtraining mode. One modem design accommodates all these functions. Themodem performs the appropriate function in response to keying signalscoming in from the controlling CCU.

The subscriber station modem 30 a and the base station modem 19 areidentical. A block diagram of the modem is shown in FIG. 25.

The modem transmitter sections include a TX symbol filter 132, adigital-to-analog (D/A) converter 133, a 200 KHz bandpass filter 134, amixer 135 and a TX (transmitter) timing control circuit 136. Thereceiver section of the modern includes a mixer 138, ananalog-to-digital (A/D) converter 139, a FIFO stack 140 and a Model TMS320 microprocessor 141.

The modem transmitter section transmits the information fed to it by theCCU at 16-level PSK modulation. It is up to the CCU an the receive sideto interpret the data as DPSK, QPSK or 16 PSK. The modem transmitswithout the knowledge of the modulation level.

The modem transmitter section is fully implemented in hardware andrequires no adjustments. Symbols received from the CCU are encoded andtheir corresponding waveforms are shaped to provide good interferenceproperties and not suffer amplitude or group delay distortion. Thejustification of this concept is made on the assumption that in the nearneighborhood frequency band (within 50-100 KHz) to the band utilizedthere are no strong interfering signals (power densities of 30-40 dBabove the signal). The modem transmitter section utilizes relativelywide IF filtering (100 KHz) so that the transmitted signal will notsuffer amplitude or group delay distortion, and also filters out anyharmonics generated by the digital filtering done at baseband.

The TX symbol filter 132 is a fixed-coefficient digital FIR(Finite-duration impulse-response) Filter. This filter 132 simulates asix pole filter with a sampling rate of 50 samples per symbol per 6symbol stay in the FIR Filter.

The modem receives symbols from its respective CCU at a rate of 16Ksymbols/second. These symbols are then converted to a DPSK code forinput on line 143 to the FIR filter 132. The FIR algorithm requires thatevery other symbol be inverted before entering into the FIR filter. Graycode is used for the DPSK coding. This insures that if a symbol wasreceived in error, there is a good probability that the two symbols tothe receiver codec will be in error by only one bit.

The impulse response of the FIR filter 132 is truncated at 6T(T={fraction (1/16)} KHz). The FIR filter oversamples the symbols at arate of 800 KHz so that every symbol is sampled 50 times during its 5Tstay in the filter. This is equivalent to a sampling rate of 3T/25 wherethe sampling period is T/25, so that samples are output each 3T/25period. The outputs are skewed such that only the first and fourth,second and fifth, or third and sixth pairs of samples overlap at any onetime. Each of these T/25 length samples is actually divided into twoparts. During the first half of the sample period, the I portion of theoutput is computed and during the second half of the period, the Qportion of the output is computed. Thus, the actual rate at which theFIR filter 132 outputs data is 50.times.16 KHz=800 KHz. The I and Osampling is staggered by one-half a sample period, but this is correctedby the FIR filter 132.

Signals representing the multiplication of symbols and impulse responsesin the FIR 132 filter and the addition of two of these multiplicationsare provided by an 8K.times.8 ROM on line 144 in response to the symbolsthat are received on line 143.

The FIR filter 132 outputs 10 bit digital samples on line 144 at therate of 800 KHz. These values are the fed into the D/A converter 133 tocreate an analog waveform on line 145. This waveform is the time-sharedI and Q waveforms of the symbol to be transmitted. This shared waveformon line 145 is filtered by the 200 KHz bandpass filter 134 then fed overline 146 into the mixer 135. The mixer's local oscillator input is an IFfrequency signal of 20 MHz on line 147. The I and Q components arethereby upconverted to 20.2 MHz IF output signal on line 148. The outputsignal on line 148 is fed through a 20.2 MHz bandpass filter (not shown)and provided to the RFU 21, 31 a.

The desired signal out of the D/A converter 134 is centered at 200 KHzwith a bandwidth of about 32 KHz. By multiplying the 200 KHz waveform by20 MHz, the output waveform mixes the I and Q samples with the SIN andCOS components of the IF frequency. Thus, the 20 MHz signal can directlymultiply the output waveform and the exact component multiplicationswill be handled automatically. Therefore, there is no need for adiscrete SIN(IF)/COS(IF) generation circuit to multiply the I/Q samplesfrom the D/A as is in the receiver. This also removes isolation feedthrough in the mixer from the baseband to the output of the mixer.

The output data stored in the transmitter FIR filter 132 is computed tocorrect for any errors that may occur due to the {fraction (1/50)} Tdifference in the I and Q time values. Also the IF filter in the RFU(FIGS. 28 and 29) adds the two values together to form the correcttransmitted waveform since its bandwidth is relatively small compared tothe IF frequency.

In the modem receiver section, the mixer 138 mixes an analog waveformreceived from the RFU on line 150 via a 20 MHz bandpass filter (notshown) with a 20 MHz IF signal on line 151 to down convert the analogsignal to baseband on line 152. The analog signal is then converted bythe A/O converter 139 to a digital signal on line 153 which is bufferedin the FIFO stack 140 for processing by the microprocessor 141. Themicroprocessor 141 performs frequency and bit tracking of the receiveddigital signal and also performs the FIR filtering and demodulation ofthe signal into a binary symbol stream that is provided on line 154 tothe CCU.

In addition to the analog and digital data signals which are processedby the modem, a number of control and status signals are sent to andfrom the modem. These signals generally are sent to the modem from theCCU. The modem also sends control signals to the RFU to control suchfunctions as the transmit power level, frequency, AGC, and antennaswitching for diversity.

The modem interfaces are shown in FIGS. 26 and 27. The modem receivesmost of its inputs from the CCU. Other inputs are from the RFU and thetiming units. The modem inputs are as follows:

The following lines carry the signals described to the is modem 19, 30 afrom the CCU 18, 29:

The TX DATA lines 156 carry a 4 bit symbol to be transmitted by themodem (2 bits for QPSK, 1 bit for BPSK). The MOD BUS 157 is abidirectional microprocessor bus that provides control/statusinformation to/from the modem. The MOD WR line 158 carries a controlsignal to the latch MOD BUS into the modem. The MOD RD line 159 carriesa control signal to put modem status and other information onto the MODBUS for transmission to the CCU 18, 29. The MOD RESET line 160 carries acontrol signal to reset the modem. The MOD ADD lines 161 carry addresssignals to different locations to latch values inside the modem. The TXSOS line 162 carries a signal to begin transmitting a TX slot. The RXSOS line 163 carries a signal to begin receiving an RX slot.

The IF RECEIVE line 165 carries an IF receive frequency input signal tothe modem 19, 30 a from the RFU 21, 31 a.

The following lines carry the signals described to the modem 19 from theSTIMU 35. The 80 MHZ line 167 carries an 80 MHz ECL clock signal. A likesignal is provided to the modem 30 a by a timing unit (not shown) in thesubscriber station. The 16 KHz line 168 carries a master TX CLK signalused in base station. The SOMF line carries a master start of framesignal in the base station from STIMU. This signal is not used in themodem, but forwarded to the CCU 18, 29.

The following lines carry the signals described from the modem 19, 30 ato the CCU 18, 29. The TX CLK line 171 carries a 16 KHz clock signalthat provides the CCU with the symbol transmit timing. Symbols areclocked into the modem with the rising edge of this clock. In the basestation, all slots have the same master TX CLK. Thus all signals fromthe base station are sent at the same time. In the subscriber station,the TX CLK is offset by the fractional range delay by the modem oninformation supplied by the CCU. The RX CLK line 172 carries the 16 KHzclock signal that is derived from the received signal. This signal isalways provided in the subscriber station, but is provided only duringcontrol slot acquisition in the base station.) This clock signal clocksout the received symbol to the CCU and provide symbol timing to the CCU.The RX DATA lines 173 carry the four bit received symbol, clocked by RXCLK signal. The MOD BUS 157 carries status and data information from themodem. The MOD SOMF line 175 forwards the SOMF signal from the STIMU tothe CCU in the base station. The AM STROBE line 176 carries a high tolow transition to give the CCU a rough frame marker during RCCacquisition in the subscriber station. This is a one shot line that ispulsed when the microprocessor 141 determines the approximate locationof the AM hole.

The following lines carry the signals described from the modem 19, 30 ato each RFU 21, 31 a. The RF RX BUS 178 is an 8-bit bus between themodem and RFU section. This bus conveys AGC and frequency selectinformation to the RF RX section. The modem controls AGC values to besent, and forwards CCU frequency selection information. The frequencyselect information is fed to the modem by the CCU over the MOD BUS 157.During training mode, the modem will control the RF RX frequencyselection. The RF TX BUS 179 is an 8-bit bus between the modem and theRFU TX section. This bus conveys TX power level and frequency selectinformation to the RFU TX section. The modem has nothing to do withthese, thus the information is only forwarded to the RF TX section. TheRX 80 MHZ REF line 180 carries an ECL 80 MHz reference clock signal tothe RFU RX section. The TX EN line 182 to the RFU TX section carries asignal to enable RF transmission. The RX EN line 183 to RFU RX sectioncarries a signal to enable RF reception. The AGC WR line 184 carries awrite strobe to latch AGC data into RFU RX section. The RXFREQ WR line185 carries a write strobe for frequency writes to the RFU TX section.The PWR WR line 186 carries a write strobe to latch power informationinto RFU TX section. The PWR RD line 187 carries a read strobe to readback power information from the RFU TX section. The TXFREQ RD line 188carries a read strobe to read back transmit frequency from the RFU TXsection. The TXFREQ WR line 189 carries write strobe frequency writes tothe RFU TX section. The IF TRANSMIT line 190 carries the transmittedsignal at IF frequency to the RFU.

The following lines carry the signals described from the modem 19 to theSTIMU 35. The VCXO BUS 192 is a 20-bit data bus to a VCXO in the STIMU35 with control information for frequency tracking. The VCXO WR linecarries a write pulse to the VCXO circuit for latching the VCXO BUS 192into the VCXO. Like signals are carried from the modem 30 a to a timingunit (not shown) in the subscriber station.

The base station modem operation is assigned to a fixed RF frequency.Communication at the base station is full duplex, therefore the modemreceiver and transmitter will be operating simultaneously. A modem alsois assigned to be the control frequency channel modem, thus onlytransmitting and receiving information with the radio control channel(RCC) format during the allocated control slot period. All transmissionsfrom the base station modems are clocked to the master TX CLK signal at16 KHz on line 171. Unlike the subscriber modems, the base stationmodems 19 output to the CCU 18 the fractional part of the symbol timebetween the master TX CLK signal on line 171 and the derived RX CLKsignal on line 172 in the modem 19. This information is then sent to thesubscriber station in the RCC so that the subscriber station will delayits transmission in order that is signal is received at the base stationsynchronous with all other slots.

The base station modem 19 also transmits a null energy signal in thecontrol slot to provide the RCC AM hole (which establishes a framereference) when the RFU transmits a null energy signal. This no-carrierportion of the RCC transmission is used for initial RX acquisition atthe subscriber station.

The modem 19 is unaware of the fact that there are four voice codecs inthe base station, multiplexed by the CCU 18, for four 16 PSK subscriberslot assignments. The modem 19 accepts the bit stream from the CCU 18and treats the transmission just as a single codec subscriber.

All operations in the subscriber station modem 30 a are derived from thereceived RX CLK signal on line 172 which is recovered from the receivedtransmission. This serves as the master clock of the subscriber station.The TX CLK signal on line 171 to the CCU 29 is not a master clock as inthe base station. It is derived from the RX CLK signal on line 172 anddelayed by the fractional time as selected by the CCU 29. The CCU 29determines the delay from the RCC. The delay is determined by thedistance between base and subscriber stations. The subscriber stationCCU 29 feeds this fractional time information to the modem 30 a throughMOD BUS 157. The modem 30 a itself accounts for the fractional delay.The CCU 29 accounts for the integer symbol delay be insertion of the TXSOS signal an line 162 delayed by the correct number of symbols. Thisprocess aligns the signals arriving at the base station from variationsin the range of all subscriber stations.

Communication is half-duplex at the subscriber station. Thus, when thetransmitter is idle, it is inhibited. The modem 30 a, when not activelytransmitting, is set to its receive mode and can thus monitor the gainlevels of the receive signal to be prepared when a burst arrives fromthe base station.

The subscriber station modem 30 a does not transmit an AM guard band forthe RCC slot. None is required since the base station defines the frame.Unlike the fixed frequency base station modems 19, subscriber stationmodems 30 a also can transmit or receive data over any one of the 26frequencies selected in the RFU by the CCU 29.

There are many sources of delay in the modem that have a pronouncedaffect upon the system timing. Such things include analog filter delays,propagation delays, FIR filter processing delays, etc. These delays skewthe TX and RX frames from one another, and these skews must be takeninto careful account.

The delay between the TX SOS signal on line 162 in the base station andthe first received analog symbol “peak” at the base station is +7.4symbols. Therefore, there is a skew between TX and RX slots. Tocorrectly decode the incoming phase, the modem must begin sampling about3.5 symbols before the “peak” arrives. Therefore, the skew between TXSOS signal and the beginning of RX sampling is about 4 symbols inlength.

At the base station, the start of the RX slot occurs about 4 T after thestart of the TX slot. The RX slot start is defined as the time the firstanalog sample is taken in order to detect the first “peak” that isreceived.

The subscriber station clocks are derived completely from a master 80MHz VCXO in the subscriber station timing unit (not shown). The VCXO iscontrolled by an analog line from the modem 30 a. From this, all receiveand transmit clocks are calculated. The modem 30 a then provides the CCU29 with the 16 KHz RX CLK signal on line 172 derived from the incomingdata stream. The CCU 29 itself detects the unique word in the controlchannel and can determine frame and slot markers from the unique wordand the RX CLK signal on line 172. The AM hole signal from the signaldemodulated by the modem informs the CCU 29 where to look for the uniqueword.

During the reception of any slot, the modem 19, 30 a performs frequencysynchronization by acquisition and then continues tracking. In thesubscriber station, the VCXO is under direct control of themicroprocessor 141 through a D/A converter. The microprocessor frequencyacquisition and tracking algorithms compute the changes in the VCXOnecessary to maintain synchronization.

In the base station, an OCXO located in the STIMU 35 is fixed and actsas the master clock of the system. Therefore, no frequency deviationswill occur on reception.

During the receipt of any slot, the modem 19, 30 a also performs bitsynchronization on the bit sync scramble of the received data stream. Analgorithm performs a bit tracking loop inside the receiver. Themicroprocessor 141 has control over a variable frequency divider of the80 MHz VCXO or OCXO (only during control slot demodulation). Inside ofthe bit tracking loop, the microprocessor 141 modifies the frequencydivision in order to obtain bit synchronization. During the reception ofa voice channel, the division values have step sizes of 0.1% of 16 KHz,but during a control slot the values may change more drastically, asmuch as .+−0.50%.

Frame synchronization is handled in completely different ways in thebase station and the subscriber stations. In the base station, themaster SOMF (start of modem frame) signal is forwarded to the CCU 18 online 175 from the timing unit on line 169 via the modem 19. This is themaster SOMF signal used for all transmission from the base station. Fromthis and the master system symbol clock signal (16 KHz), the CCU 18 canderive all slot and frame timing.

In the subscriber station, frame synchronization is done by the CCU 29with the detection of the unique word in the received RCC data stream.Upon initial acquisition, the modem 30 a provides a one shot,approximate frame marker (AM STROBE) on line 176. During acquisition,the modem 30 a searches for the AM HOLE in the RCC. IF the AM HOLE isdetected, the modem 30 a counts it for a few frames and then provide theAM STROBE marker on line 176 to the CCU 29 at the frame location of theAM HOLE. The CCU 29 uses this strobe marker to set un initial framemarker counters (windowing) that can be modified by CCU software forexact frame sync. This also signifies that the AM HOLE was detected andthe RCC is acquired.

Slot synchronization is under the control of the CCU 18, 29. The signalsTX SOS on line 162 and RX SOS on line 163 are commands to the modem 19,30 a to begin the transmission or reception of a slot. These signals aresynchronized to the TX CLK signal on line 171 and the RX CLK signal online 172 respectively.

The self adapting mode is a looped-back state that the modem enters totrain the receiver's digital FIR filter coefficients to correct for anyreceive analog filter degradations that may occur in time or withtemperature. The analysis is done by looping back the transmitter datathrough the RF unit and receiving a known pattern in the receiver. Thecoefficients are optimized over a 5 constraint LaGrangian system. Theseconstraints are (1) the received data stream; (2) the data streamdelayed by 0.05 T; (3) the data stream advanced by 0.05 T; (4) the datastream from the adjacent upper channel; and (5) the data steam from theadjacent lower channel.

During training, the microprocessor 141 provides to the TX FIR filter131 on line 143 a series of 32 symbol long training patterns. This isdone via a FIFO stack (not shown) that is enabled during the trainingmode. Advances/delays are done by the receive bit track circuitry thatwill skew the two streams by 0.05 T.

The CCU 18, 29 places the modem 19, 30 a into the training mode to allowthe modem transmitter section to read special training data from theFIFO stack on board the modem. The receiver section will beadvanced/delayed for some of the tests. When the process is complete,the modem sends a status message to the CCU 18, 29 that the coefficientsare computed. At this time, the CCU 18, 29 tests the modem by placing itin normal operation and writing out a set pattern, commanding the RFU21, 31 a to loopback, and read the returned data and test for validity.

The modem is described in further detail a co-pending U.S. patentapplication entitled “Modem for Subscriber RF Telephone System” filed oneven date herewith by Eric Paneth, David N. Critchlow and Moshe Yehushuathe disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

RF/IF Unit (RFU) and Antenna Interface

The RFU subsystem provides the communications channel link between themodem and the antenna in both the base station and the subscriberstation. The RFU functions as a linear amplitude and frequencytranslator and is essentially transparent to the channel data andmodulation characteristics.

The antenna interface circuit for the subscriber station is shown inFIG. 28. A RFU control logic circuit 192 is coupled to the transmitterantenna 32, and the three receiver antennas 32 a, 32 b and 32 c by theantenna interface circuit. The RFU control logic circuit 192 is alsointerfaced with the transmit section of the modem 30 a, and the receivesections of the modems 30 a, 30 b and 30 c. Actually, 32 and 32 a arethe same antenna.

The transmitter section of the antenna interface includes an upconverter and amplifier circuit 193, a TX synthesizer 194, a poweramplifier 196 and a TX/RX mode switch 197. A fist receiver section RX 1of the antenna interface includes a down converter and amplifier 198, aRX synthesizer 199 and a preamplifier 200 which is connected to switch197. Each additional diversity receiver section, TXn (n=2, 3) includes adown converter and amplifier 202, a RX synthesizer 203 and apreamplifier 204.

The RFU control logic circuit 192 provides the following signals to thetransmitter section of the antenna interface circuit in response to thesignals received from the transmit section of the modem 30 a: (1) a TXenable signal on line 206 for causing the TX/RX switch 197 to enabletransmission by the transmitter antenna 32; (2) an IF input signal online 207 to the up converter and amplifier 193; (3) a power controlsignal on line 208, also up to the up converter and amplifier 193; (4) aclock reference signal on line 209 to the TX synthesizer 194; and (5) achannel select signal on line 210, also to the TX synthesizer 194. TheTX synthesizer 194 responds to the channel select signal on line 210 byproviding a TX frequency select signal on line 211 to the up converterand amplifier 193 that is equal to the difference between the desiredtransmit frequency and the modem IF frequency.

The RFU control logic circuit 192 provides the following signals to eachof the receiver sections of the antenna interface circuit in response tothe signals received from the respective receive sections of the modems30 a, 30 b and 30 c: (1) a TX enable signal on lines 213 to cause thedown converter and amplifier circuits 198, 202 to operate in the receivemodes; (2) an automatic gain control (AGC) signal on lines 214 to thedown converter and amplifier circuits 198, 202; (3) a clock referencesignal on lines 215 to the RX synthesizers 199, 203; and (4) a channelselect signal on lines 216 also to the RX synthesizers 199, 203 respondto the channel select signal on lines 216 by providing a RX frequencyselect signal on lines 217 to the down converter and amplifier circuits198, 202 that is equal to the difference between the desired receivefrequency and the modem IF frequency. The down converter and amplifiercircuits 198, 202 provide IF output signals on line 218 to the RFUcontrol logic circuit 192 for delivery to the receive sections of therespective modems 30 a, 30 b and 30 c.

The up converter and amplifier circuit 193 in the transmitter sectionreceives the modulated IF signal on line 207, amplifies it andtranslates it to the selected RF channel frequency. A combination offilters (not shown), amplifiers 196, 197 and level control circuits (notshown) is then used to provide the proper output level and suppressundesired signals at the image and harmonic frequencies. The transmitteroutput frequency is the sum of the modem IF frequency and a conversionfrequency synthesized in 25 KHz stops from the reference frequencysupplied by the modem.

The subscriber station RFU functions as a half-duplex transceiver withthe receivers inactive during the transmit intervals. The transmit burstrate is sufficiently high to simulate full-duplex operation to the user.The frequency channel assigned is that selected by the base station RPU.

The antenna interface circuit for the base station is shown in FIG. 29.An RFU control logic circuit 219 is coupled to the transmitter antenna23, and the three receiver antennas 34 a, 34 b and 34 c by the antennainterface circuit. The RFU control logic circuit 219 is also interfacedwith the transmit section of the modem 19, and the receive sections ofthe modems 19, 19 b and 19 c. (Modems 19 b and 19 c are diversity modemsnot shown in FIG. 2.)

The transmitter section of the antenna interface includes an upconverter and amplifier circuit 220, a TX synthesizer 221, a poweramplifier 222, a high power amplifier 223, in a power detector 224 and abandpass filter 225. A first receiver section RX 1 of the antennainterface includes a down converter and amplifier 230, a RX synthesizer231, a preamplifier 232 and a bandpass filter 233. Each additionaldiversity receiver section, RXn includes a down converter and amplifier234, a RX synthesizer 235, a preamplifier 236, and a bandpass filter237.

The RFU control logic circuit 219 provides the following signals to thetransmitter section of the antenna interface circuit in response to thesignals received from the transmit section of the modem 19: (1) a TX ONsignal on line 235 to the up converter and amplifier 220 for turning onthe transmission section to enable transmission by the transmitterantenna 23; (2) an IF input signal on line 240, also to the up converterand amplifier 220; (3) a clock reference signal on line 24 to the TXsynthesizer 221; and (4) a channel select signal on line 242, also tothe TX synthesizer 221. The TX synthesizer 221 responds to the channelselect signal on line 242 by providing a RX frequency select signal online 243 to the up converter and amplifier 220 that is equal to thedifference between the desired transmit frequency and the modem IFfrequency. A level control signal is provided on line 244 from the powerdetector 224 to the up converter and amplifier 220.

The RFU control logic circuit 219 provides the following signals to eachof the receiver sections of the antenna interface circuit in response tothe signals received from the respective receive sections of the modems19, 19 b, 19 c: (1) an automatic gain control (AGC) signal on lines 245to the down converter and amplifier circuits 230,234; (2) a clockreference signal on lines 246 to the RX synthesizers 231, 225; and (3) achannel select signal an lines 247 also to the RX synthesizers 231, 235.The RX synthesizers 231, 235 respond to the channel select signal onlines 247 by providing a RX frequency select signal on lines 248 to thedown converter and amplifier circuits 230, 234 that is equal to thedifference between the desired receive frequency and the modem IFfrequency. The down converter and amplifier circuit 230, 231 provide IFoutput signals on line 249 to the RFU control logic circuit 219 fordelivery to the receive sections of the respective modems 19, 19 b, 19c.

The RFU's in the base station and the subscriber stations are similarwith the exception of the additional high power amplifier 223 used toincrease the transmit power of the base station RF outputs. The basicfunction of the RFU's in either station is to convert the modulated IF(20.2 MHz) signal from the modem transmitter section to the desired RFtransmission frequency in the 450 MHz UHF range. The receive side of theRF unit performs the opposite action of downconverting the receive 450MHz UHF signals to an IF signal at 20 MHz. The transmit and receivefrequencies are offset from each other by 5 MHz. The RF units areprogrammed by the CCU control function to operate on differentfrequencies used in the overall system. Typically, each base station RFUwill be set to operate on a given frequency assignment upon systeminitialization and will not change. The number of RFU's in the basestation corresponds to the number of transmit and receive frequencychannel pairs supported in the base station. The subscriber station RFUswill typically chance frequency of operation with each new phoneconnection.

The RFUs include variable AGC and transmit power level adjustments. TheAGC gain coefficient is provided by the modem based on a computation inthe receive section processor 141 in the modem. The subscriber stationtransmit power level is computed by the CCU based on messages receivedfrom the base station on the RCC channel and other control parameters.

If all slots in a frequency channel are not used, the RFU will transmitan idle pattern placed into it by the CCU. If a completed frequencychannel is not used, the transmitter for that frequency can be disabledby the CCU software through the modem.

The switching time for the diversity switches shall be less than 50microseconds.

Three antennas and three separate RF/IF units are provided. (Singletransmit, three receive).

Many portions of the base station RFU and antenna interface areidentical to those described above for the subscriber station. Thissubsection emphasizes the differences

The base station RFUs and antenna interface circuits operate on a fullduplex basis. All transmitters and receivers normally operate at 100percent duty cycle. In addition, it is economically attractive for thebase station to operate at higher transmit power and to use lower noisefigure receivers with diversity. The transmitter is intended foroperation at the highest permitted power level without dynamic control.Receive diversity is provided by multiple receive antennas and multiplemodems.

The base station ordinarily does not change operating frequency ortransmit power level during normal operation. The transmitter andreceiver sections are fully tunable to each of the 26 channels.

The transmit section of the base station antenna interface receives themodulated IF INPUT signal on line 239 from the modem and processes it asin the subscriber transmitter section described above. It is furtheramplified to the required power level and filtered by a cavitypreselector bandpass filter 221, to reduce noise at the operatingfrequencies of co-located receivers and to reduce spurious emissionlevel.

The base station receive section of the antenna interface is similar tothat discussed for the subscriber station except that the front end ispreceded by cavity preselector bandpass filters 233, 237, which help toeliminate the desensitization caused by co-located or nearbytransmitters. Low noise preamplifiers are also used to reduce the usablethreshold signal level. All antennas 23, 34 a, 34 b, 34 c have 30 dBisolation from any other antenna. Additional isolation is provided inthe transmit and receive sections to ensure approximately 80 dB ofisolation between transmitted signals and received signals. The bandpassfilter, preamplifiers and amplifiers are located adjacent to theappropriate transmit or receive antenna.

Diversity Reception Processing

Diversity reception is used to reduce the probability of experiencing achannel fade below an accepted threshold. The diversity system iscapable of adding three branch diversity over the subscriber to base andthe base to subscriber paths. The diversity hardware at both the basestation and the subscriber stations includes a special diversitycombiner circuit, three modems and their associated RF units andantennas. Only one modem-RFU-antenna combination has transmitcapability. Although the diversity combiner circuit 33 is shown only inthe subscriber system diagram of FIG. 2, it is present and connected tothe modems and CCU in the base station in the same manner as in thesubscriber station.

When operating with diversity reception, the base station or subscriberstation uses three receive antennas separated by a distance great enoughto insure that the fading characteristics of the signals received willbe uncorrelated. These three antennas feed through three identicalreceiver sections in the antenna interface to the RFU control logiccircuit whose IF outputs go into separate modems for demodulation. A TMS320 microprocessor in the diversity combiner circuit 33 (diversityprocessor) takes the outputs from the modems and provide a more reliabledata stream to the rest of the system in a way that emulates a singlemodem. The two tasks of performing the diversity combination andappearing as a single modem to the CCU are the responsibility of thediversity processor hardware and software.

The diversity processor reads from the three modems their data symbols,AGC values, signal+noise, magnitude and phase error (deviation of thedetected phase from the ideal 22.5 degree reference vectors). Thealgorithm used to determine the demodulated symbol involves using amajority vote and calculations of signal-to-noise ratios for each modemto identify the modem with the most likely right answer.

The diversity processor-CCU interface registers are almost identical tothe resisters found in the modems, with the exception that the extraregisters used to pass information used in the diversity processingfunction are not needed and therefore only three address bits areneeded.

Because the I/O capabilities of the TMS320 microprocessor are small, andmost of the processing works with one type of I/O register at a time, aspecial register which will hold the register address needed at the timeis used. For example, the AGC value from each modem must be read, thehighest value chosen, and the result written to the diversityprocessor's I/O registers where it can be read by the CCU. Theaddressing of these registers is most efficiently done if the address ofthe AGC register is first written to a part where it is placed on themodem address lines. Thereafter, the processor need only address thecorrect modem or the microprocessor register bank, thereby speeding I/Ooperations.

In the subscriber station diversity system, each modem has its owntiming unit, and the timing signals used by the three modems in thediversity system are not necessarily in phase. Because the modem clocksignals of the three modems are not synchronized to each other, latchesare needed to hold the data symbol output from each modem until thediversity processor reads it.

An important function of the diversity processor is to maintaincommunications between the CCU and the three modems. This communicationmust be done quickly enough so as to meet all of the CCU's requirementsbut not so fast as to overload the diversity processor.

1. A User Equipment (UE) which facilitates wireless communication withat least one other communicating unit, the UE communicating informationsignals to said communicating unit over a channel at an assigned one ofa plurality of frequencies using repetitive time frames, each said timeframe comprising a sequence of time slots, said channel being defined ashaving the same one or more of said time slots from said sequence oftime slots in one or more of said time frames, the UE comprising: (a) aprocessor configured to assign a duration of time for the informationsignals being sent to said communicating unit, wherein said durationequals the duration of one or more time slots in the same time frame;and (b) a memory for storing assignment information indicating whichtime slots of each time frame have been assigned, wherein said processormaintains said memory and provides said assignment information byconsulting said memory.
 2. The UE of claim 1 further comprising: (c) amultiplexer for multiplexing the information signals onto the channel;and (d) a transmitter for transmitting the information signals to saidcommunicating unit based on said assignment information.
 3. The UE ofclaim 1 wherein all of said time slots are of equal time duration. 4.The UE of claim 1 wherein said information signals have respectivedifferent bit processing rates.
 5. The UE of claim 4 wherein saidprocessor assigns said information signals having respective differentbit processing rates to time slots within the same time frame.
 6. The UEof claim 1 wherein said information signals are modulated onto a carrierfrequency of the channel, and wherein different information signals havedifferent modulation types.
 7. The UE of claim 1 further comprising: (c)a modulator for modulating the information signals onto a carrierfrequency of the channel, said modulator being configured to modulatedifferent information signals having respective different modulationtypes, wherein said processor is configured to assign informationsignals having respective different modulation types to time slots inthe same time frame.
 8. The UE of claim 7 wherein at least one of saidmodulation types is phase shift keying (PSK) modulation.
 9. The UE ofclaim 1 further comprising: (c) a linear modulator including a linearamplifier.
 10. The UE of claim 9 wherein said linear modulator usesmodulation to transmit at least 2 bits/symbol.
 11. The UE of claim 1further comprising: (c) a receiver for receiving reverse informationsignals from an originating one of said mobile subscriber units to adestination over a reverse channel at an assigned frequency, whereinsaid reverse channel is present on multiple time slots within the sametime frame.
 12. The UE of claim 11 further comprising: (d) a demodulatorfor demodulating said reverse information signals from the carrierfrequency of the reverse channel, said demodulator being configured todemodulate reverse information signals having respective differentmodulation types.
 13. The UE of claim 1 wherein said communicating unitis a base station.
 14. A User Equipment (UE) for supporting wirelesscommunication with at least one subscriber unit, the UE communicatinginformation signals to said at least one subscriber unit in selectedtime slots of time frames of assigned frequencies wherein the timeframes for each frequency have a predetermined number of time slots eachhaving a predetermined position in the time frame and time divisionmultiplex (TDM) channels are defined by one or more time slots havingthe same relative position in each of a frequency's time frames, said UEcomprising: (a) a processor which makes time slot assignments forsegments of each information signal to be sent to said at least onesubscriber unit, such that segments of a particular information signalare assigned to the time slots of a selected TDM channel; and (b) amemory for storing assignment information indicating which time slotpositions in the time frames of each frequency are allocated to whichTDM channels, wherein said processor maintains said memory and providessaid assignment information by consulting said memory.
 15. The UE ofclaim 14 wherein a frequency assigned to said channel has N time slotsper time frame where N is at least four and N TDM channels are assignedto said at least one frequency such that an ith TDM channel correspondsto the time slots of an ith time slot position of said time frames, fori=1 to N, and said processor unit assigns a series of segments, whichseries combine to constitute a given information signal, to the ith timeslot of consecutive time frames of the frequency in order to communicatethe given information signal to a subscriber unit via the ith TDMchannel of the frequency.
 16. The UE of claim 15 further comprising: (c)a multiplexer for multiplexing said assigned segments into a seriescorresponding to said assigned time slots; and (d) an information signalbuffer unit for providing information signals in segments of a selectedsize to said multiplexer corresponding said assigned time slots.
 17. TheUE of claim 14 wherein said processor assigns segments of informationsignals intended for different subscriber units to different time slotsof a designated TDM channel.
 18. The UE of claim 14 wherein saidprocessor assigns time slots of consecutive time frames for each segmentof a given information signal.
 19. The UE of claim 14 furthercomprising: (c) a receiver for receiving signals on receptionfrequencies, wherein each frequency used for transmission has anassociated frequency used for reception such that received signals oneach respective reception frequency have time frames having the samepredetermined number of time slots as signals transmitted on saidassociated frequency.
 20. The UE of claim 14 wherein each frequency usedfor transmission is different from said associated frequency used forreception and is separated therefrom by approximately 5 MHz.
 21. The UEof claim 14 wherein said information signals include voice informationsignals, said system further comprising: (c) a voice coder unit forcompressing said voice information signals into compressed voiceinformation signals, wherein said processor assigns time slots forsegments of said compressed voice information signals output by saidvoice coder unit.
 22. The UE of claim 14 wherein said informationsignals include command information signals, and said processor makestime slot assignments for segments of said command information signalsto a TDM channel designated as a radio control channel (RCC) for saidsubscriber units.
 23. The UE of claim 14 wherein said processorallocates and deallocates time slot positions of frequency time framesby consulting said memory to dynamically define TDM channels.
 24. The UEof claim 23 wherein at least one frequency has time frames which eachhave four time slots and wherein said processor allocates either one ortwo time slots per time frame for the frequency's TDM channels such thatthe processor allocates for the frequency a maximum of four TDMchannels, each corresponding to the time slots of a respective first,second, third or fourth time slot position of each of the frequency'stime frame and a minimum of two TDM channels, one corresponding to thetime slots of first and second time slot positions of the frequency'stime frames and the other corresponding to the time slots of third andfourth time slot positions of the frequency's time frames.
 25. The UE ofclaim 14 wherein said at least one subscriber unit is a base station.26. A User Equipment (UE) for facilitating wireless communication withat least one subscriber unit, the UE communicating information signalsto said at least one subscriber unit in selected time slots of timeframes of assigned frequencies wherein the time frames for eachfrequency have a predetermined number of time slots each having apredetermined position in the time frame, and channels are defined by agroup of time slots having the same relative position in each of afrequency's time frames, said UE comprising: (a) a processor which makestime slot assignments for segments of each information signal to be sentto said at least one subscriber unit, such that segments of a particularinformation signal are assigned to the time slots of a selected channel;and (b) a memory for storing assignment information indicating whichtime slot positions in the time frames of each frequency are allocatedto which channels, wherein said processor maintains said memory andprovides said assignment information by consulting said memory.
 27. TheUE of claim 26 further comprising: (c) a multiplexer for multiplexinginformation signal segments into a series corresponding to time slotassignments; and (d) a transmitter for transmitting the multiplexedinformation signal segments to said at least one subscriber unit onfrequencies corresponding to the time slot assignments.
 28. The UE ofclaim 26 wherein said at least one subscriber unit is a base station.29. A User Equipment (UE) for facilitating wireless communication withat least one of a plurality of subscriber units, the UE communicatinginformation signals to a destination one of said subscriber units over achannel at an assigned one of a plurality of frequencies, said channelcomprising a plurality of repetitive time slots, with a series ofconsecutive time slots defining a time frame, said UE comprising: (a) aprocessor configured to assign at least one time slot in the same timeframe for the information signals to be sent to said destinationsubscriber unit; and (b) a memory for storing assignment informationindicating which time slots have been assigned, wherein said processormaintains said memory and provides said assignment information byconsulting said memory.
 30. The UE of claim 29 further comprising: (c) amultiplexer for multiplexing the information signals onto the channel;and (d) a transmitter for transmitting the information signals to saiddestination subscriber unit based on said assignment information. 31.The UE of claim 29 wherein all of said time slots are of equal timeduration.
 32. The UE of claim 29 wherein said information signals haverespective different bit processing rates.
 33. The UE of claim 32wherein said processor assigns said information signals havingrespective different bit processing rates to time slots within the sametime frame.
 34. The UE of claim 29 wherein said information signals aremodulated onto a carrier frequency of the channel, and wherein differentinformation signals have different modulation types.
 35. The UE of claim29 further comprising: (c) a modulator for modulating the informationsignals onto a carrier frequency of the channel, said modulator beingconfigured to modulate different information signals having respectivedifferent modulation types, wherein said processor is configured toassign information signals having respective different modulation typesto time slots in the same time frame.
 36. The UE of claim 35 wherein atleast one of said modulation types is phase shift keying (PSK)modulation.
 37. The UE of claim 29 further comprising: (c) a linearmodulator including a linear amplifier.
 38. The UE of claim 37 whereinsaid linear modulator uses modulation to transmit at least 2bits/symbol.
 39. The UE of claim 29 further comprising: (c) a receiverfor receiving reverse information signals from an originating one ofsaid mobile subscriber units to a destination over a reverse channel atan assigned frequency, wherein said reverse channel is present onmultiple time slots within the same time frame.
 40. The UE of claim 39further comprising: (d) a demodulator for demodulating said reverseinformation signals from the carrier frequency of the reverse channel,said demodulator being configured to demodulate reverse informationsignals having respective different modulation types.
 41. The UE ofclaim 29 wherein said at least one subscriber unit is a base station.42. A User Equipment (UE) for facilitating wireless communication with aplurality of subscriber units, the UE communicating information signalsfrom an originating source to a destination one of said subscriber unitsover a channel at an assigned one of a plurality of frequencies, saidchannel comprising at least one time slot from a time frame repeatingover time, each said time frame comprising a finite series of timeslots, said UE comprising: (a) a processor configured to define achannel by assigning a duration of time for the information signalsbeing sent to said one destination subscriber unit, wherein saidduration equals the duration of one or more time slots in the same timeframe; and (b) a memory for storing assignment information indicatingwhich time slots in each time frame have been assigned, wherein saidprocessor maintains said memory and provides said assignment informationby consulting said memory.
 43. The UE of claim 42 further comprising:(c) a multiplexer for multiplexing the information signals onto thechannel; and (d) a transmitter for transmitting the information signalsto said destination subscriber unit over the channel.
 44. The UE ofclaim 42 wherein all of said time slots are of equal time duration. 45.The UE of claim 42 wherein said information signals have respectivedifferent bit processing rates.
 46. The UE of claim 45 wherein saidprocessor assigns said information signals having respective differentbit processing rates to time slots within the same time frame.
 47. TheUE of claim 42 wherein said information signals are modulated onto acarrier frequency of the channel, and wherein different informationsignals have different modulation types.
 48. The UE of claim 42 furthercomprising: (c) a modulator for modulating the information signals ontoa carrier frequency of the channel, said modulator being configured tomodulate different information signals having respective differentmodulation types, wherein said processor is configured to assigninformation signals having respective different modulation types to timeslots in the same time frame.
 49. The UE of claim 48 wherein at leastone of said modulation types is phase shift keying (PSK) modulation. 50.The UE of claim 42 further comprising: (c) a linear modulator includinga linear amplifier.
 51. The UE of claim 50 wherein said linear modulatoruses modulation to transmit at least 2 bits/symbol.
 52. The UE of claim42 further comprising: (c) a receiver for receiving reverse informationsignals from an originating one of said mobile subscriber units to adestination over a reverse channel at an assigned frequency, whereinsaid reverse channel is present on multiple time slots within the sametime frame.
 53. The UE of claim 52 further comprising: (d) a demodulatorfor demodulating said reverse information signals from the carrierfrequency of the reverse channel, said demodulator being configured todemodulate reverse information signals having respective differentmodulation types.
 54. The UE of claim 42 wherein said one destinationsubscriber unit is a base station.
 55. A User Equipment (UE) forsupporting wireless communication with a plurality of subscriber units,the UE communicating information signals from an originating source to adestination one of said subscriber units at an assigned one of aplurality of frequencies and over an assigned channel, using a repeatingtime frame, said time frame having a plurality of time slots, saidchannel being defined by at least one of said time slots in each timeframe, said UE comprising: (a) a processor configured to assign aduration of time for the information signals being sent to saiddestination subscriber unit, wherein said duration equals the durationof one or more time slots in the same time frame; and (b) a memory forstoring assignment information indicating which time slots in each timeframe have been assigned, wherein said processor maintains said memoryand provides said assignment information by consulting said memory. 56.The UE of claim 55 further comprising: (c) a multiplexer formultiplexing the information signals onto the channel; and (d) atransmitter for transmitting the information signals to said destinationsubscriber unit over the channel.
 57. The UE of claim 55 wherein all ofsaid time slots are of equal time duration.
 58. The UE of claim 55wherein said information signals have respective different bitprocessing rates.
 59. The UE of claim 58 wherein said processor assignssaid information signals having respective different bit processingrates to time slots within the same time frame.
 60. The UE of claim 55wherein said information signals are modulated onto a carrier frequencyof the channel, and wherein different information signals have differentmodulation types.
 61. The UE of claim 55 further comprising: (c) amodulator for modulating the information signals onto a carrierfrequency of the channel, said modulator being configured to modulatedifferent information signals having respective different modulationtypes, wherein said processor is configured to assign informationsignals having respective different modulation types to time slots inthe same time frame.
 62. The UE of claim 61 wherein at least one of saidmodulation types is phase shift keying (PSK) modulation.
 63. The UE ofclaim 55 further comprising: (c) a linear modulator including a linearamplifier.
 64. The UE of claim 63 wherein said linear modulator usesmodulation to transmit at least 2 bits/symbol.
 65. The UE of claim 55further comprising: (c) a receiver for receiving reverse informationsignals from an originating one of said subscriber units to adestination over a reverse channel at an assigned frequency, whereinsaid reverse channel is present on multiple time slots within the sametime frame.
 66. The UE of claim 65 further comprising: (d) a demodulatorfor demodulating said reverse information signals from the carrierfrequency of the reverse channel, said demodulator being configured todemodulate reverse information signals having respective differentmodulation types.
 67. The UE of claim 55 wherein said one destinationsubscriber unit is a base station.
 68. A wireless transmit/receive unitwhich facilitates wireless communication with at least one communicatingunit, the wireless transmit/receive unit communicating informationsignals to said communicating unit over a channel at an assigned one ofa plurality of frequencies using repetitive time frames, the assignedchannel being assigned by said communicating unit, each said time framecomprising a sequence of time slots, said channel being defined ashaving the same one or more of said time slots from said sequence oftime slots in one or more of said time frames, said wirelesstransmit/receive unit comprising: (a) a processor for placing theinformation signals into at least one time slot within a time frame; and(b) a transmitter for transmitting the information signals to saidcommunicating unit over the assigned channel.
 69. The wirelesstransmit/receive unit of claim 68 further comprising: (c) a multiplexerfor multiplexing the information signals onto the assigned channel. 70.The wireless transmit/receive unit of claim 68 wherein all of said timeslots are of equal time duration.
 71. The wireless transmit/receive unitof claim 68 wherein said information signals have respective differentbit processing rates.
 72. The wireless transmit/receive unit of claim 71wherein said processor assigns said information signals havingrespective different bit processing rates to time slots within the sametime frame.
 73. The wireless transmit/receive unit of claim 68 whereinsaid information signals are modulated onto a carrier frequency of theassigned channel, and wherein different information signals havedifferent modulation types.
 74. The wireless transmit/receive unit ofclaim 68 further comprising: (c) a modulator for modulating theinformation signals onto a carrier frequency of the assigned channel,said modulator being configured to modulate different informationsignals having respective different modulation types, wherein saidprocessor is configured to assign information signals having respectivedifferent modulation types to time slots in the same frame.
 75. Thewireless transmit/receive unit of claim 74 wherein at least one of saidmodulation types is phase shift keying (PSK) modulation.
 76. Thewireless transmit/receive unit of claim 68 further comprising: (c) alinear modulator including a linear amplifier.
 77. The wirelesstransmit/receive unit of claim 76 wherein said linear modulator usesmodulation to transmit at least 2 bits/symbol.
 78. The wirelesstransmit/receive unit of claim 68 further comprising: (c) a receiver forreceiving reverse information signals from said communicating unit overa reverse channel at an assigned frequency, wherein said reverse channelis present on multiple time slots within the same frame.
 79. Thewireless transmit/receive unit of claim 78 further comprising: (d) ademodulator for demodulating said reverse information signals from thecarrier frequency of the reverse channel, said demodulator beingconfigured to demodulate reverse information signals having respectivedifferent modulation types.
 80. The wireless transmit/receive unit ofclaim 68 wherein said at least one communicating unit is a base station.